The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) says it is on the same page with the federal government in the fight against corruption, but asked that due process must be followed to ensure that innocent citizens are not victimised.
The party, which admitted that President Muhammadu Buhari was not corrupt, however, called for the probe of All Progressives Congress (APC) leaders whom it said were the “worst corrupt set of Nigerians”.
The PDP in a statement issued by Olisa Metuh, its spokesman, on Tuesday said the clarification had become necessary to remove any misconception that it was against the decision of the present administration to probe some past officials of government because they are members of the party.
“The PDP supports the decision of the federal government to fight corruption in our country. However, we make bold to state that it should not be used as a guise to victimize innocent citizens. Democracy has come to stay in Nigeria and no citizen, irrespective of political, religious or ethnic affiliation should be denied access to due process and the rule of law in the process,” it said.
Advertisement
“In the same vein, we want to state categorically that the anti-corruption war, whilst targeted at the immediate past administration should not by any means be blind to the impunity of the present leaders of the country either in terms of borrowing and spending without recourse to the statutory arms and organs of government and dictates of transparency and accountability, or in terms of nepotism in appointments in key institutions such as INEC and the DSS.
“The anti-corruption effort must not be blind to the corrupting of the security system resulting in the intrusion by over-zealous operatives on issues bordering purely on politics; the hounding, arrest and detention of resident electoral officers and members of election tribunals in Rivers, Akwa Ibom and other PDP states.
“Furthermore we make bold to state that he who comes to equity must come with clean hands. In that regard therefore, we advice members of the APC blowing the horn ahead of the cart to keep quiet because many of them have been major beneficiaries of corruption and sleazes associated with themselves and their allies, especially one of them who as a disguised errand boy of a well known APC leader is a major beneficiary of the largesse of perpetrators of corruption.
Advertisement
“Apart from Mr President, who for now, is not associated with any sleaze or corrupt activity in this democracy, most APC leaders are still those who as governors, ministers and labour leaders have been the worst corrupt set of Nigerians ever to bestride the political landscape of the country.
“It is a great miscarriage of perception therefore for APC leaders who are perpetrators of sleazes and corrupt acts to attempt to deceive Nigerians with imaginary holiness in this anti-corruption war by the president.
“Consequently, we counsel Mr President, as the leader of the APC to remove the log in the eyes of his party while we support his commitment to remove the speck from the eyes of others.”
Advertisement
6 comments
PDP who is clean in your party? At least APC has one clean person. Stop this needless jealousy.
Anyway thanks for acknowledging what we already know.
Thank you Metu for standing up to the most hypocritical party Nigeria has ever seen. The strange bedfellows in APC are taking this holier than thou attitude believing Nigerians are dumb. We have the records of their sleaze in the various states they governed. There are many clean and decent politicians in PDP as well as APC so nobody should claim the monopoly of cleanness nor should anybody allege the monopoly of corruption. Keep up the good work Metu.
@ Orbuka…where u not in Nigeria when d same Obj gave PMB clean bill of health after an instituted probe
?It didn’t just happen now..it happened under obj regime when both of them were arch enemies!If u r in doubt go brush up ur books of history n desist frm maligning pple even if u dnt like their faces
I support total war against corruption. I hope that PDP is right in absolving Mr. President, especially as corruption must include the misuse of public power either for personal or collective/group gain. If PMB is indeed not corrupt, that would be good news and should provide a solid platform for the war against corruption.
What I find ironic is that some of the most corrupt individuals in our public space have suddenly become anticorruption mouthpieces, sometimes outdoing themselves. The flip side though is that it would seem to lend credence to the fact that the tone at the top is right, credit PMB. But nobody should be deceived. It is comforting that the President said no one, not even his party members, will be spared if they are corrupt.
I think any right thinking PDP person would hush and focus on restructuring their party. How come none of them in 16 years could not attempt to do what Buhari is doing now? We are in support of his anti corruption my foot… Olisa should please focus on giving us a worthy political opponents for 2019, that is if they can provide one.
shikenah!
‘Apart from Mr President, who for now, is not associated with any sleaze or corrupt activity in this democracy,’
This is exactly what Metuh said. If you read carefully, you will agree that the President was not absolved completely and I sincerely think that the president should also investigate the APC leaders whose accounts in the USA were recently released by the FBI otherwise he will make a mess of the whole ‘anti-corruption crusade’