The presidential campaign spokesman for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dino Melaye on Friday described the All Progressives Congress (APC) as a Non Governmental Organization (NGO) and not a political party.
Melaye in a statement released on Friday said the ruling party remains formless, unstructured, uncoordinated and unorganised.
He said President Muhammadu Buhari is the life wire, navigator and camp commandant of the party who approved the coronation of the party Chairman for mere formalization.
According to the former lawmaker who represented Kogi West Senatorial district, the APC whom he said in the last 10 years has no Board of Trustees (BoT) is unprepared to lead Nigeria.
The former legislator said APC without the BoT remains rudderless, floundering, reactive, and retrogressive.
He further stated that Bola Tinubu as the National Leader of the party before his emergence as a presidential candidate was not good enough to lead the BoT.
Melaye condemned the party for functioning only under a Caretaker Committee, adding that it was led by a sitting Governor who should have focused on the affairs of his state.
He added, “As things stand, all the illegality committed in Buni’s era may be subjected to judicial interrogation. The shilly-shally continued until the Presidential Convention of Parties fell due.
“Again, the APC acted disjointedly, asking to be granted an extension of time by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). While PDP had conducted its Party Convention and Presidential Election convention as scheduled, INEC had to babysit and spoon-feed APC before it could hold its Party and Presidential primaries conventions.”
Melaye mocked the APC for taking a long time before it could select a running mate for its presidential candidate.
The statement released by the former lawmaker further reads, “Another evidence of maturational lag manifested during the Presidential Primaries. The National Chairman of the Party, acting for himself or a proxy expressed a preference for a candidate, while the majority of APC Governors had their own choice. Though President Buhari, sometimes humoured to be the leader of the Party, did not make any pronouncement, it is unlikely that the Chairman acted alone without the approval of the man behind the mask. Till today it has been a ding-dong between the National Chairman of APC and the flag bearer of the Party. Where is the time to think or act for the good of Nigeria in all these?
“Perhaps a more telling indicator of the gross unpreparedness of the APC for governance is in the constitution of its Campaign Council. In its unguided attempt to be at peace with a better-organized and better-structured party like the PDP, the APC amateurs bypassed processes, ignored consultation, discarded vital inputs, and ran to the press with a hurriedly hemmed list of Council members.”
Melaye also pointed to the crisis which has seen the ruling party battling over the composition of its presidential campaign council.
He ended his view by saying, “The inauguration of the APC Campaign Council has since been postponed indefinitely! If the kick-off of campaigns was unified by INEC APC would still have held PDP and other parties down from commencing their campaign, but Gentlemen, as you can see PDP is already up and running”.
This article was originally published on OsunDaily News
