As the 2023 presidential election shifts into high gear, the All Progressives Congress (APC) has pulled a big surprise on Nigerians home and abroad by selecting a retired, physically unfit man, Former Lagos State Governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu, as candidate for president of Nigeria.
In response, a US-based organization of Nigerians in diaspora, Diasporans for PDP, has called on APC to stop joking with the future of Nigeria.
In a statement to press by the organization’s National Publicity Secretary, Chidi Igwe, Diasporans for PDP expressed total dismay that APC’s choice of a retired, physically unfit man for president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is retrogressive and will leave Nigeria in a worst shape than the country has been under President Muhammadu Buhari, who himself, was retired and physically unfit when he took office eight years ago.
“The job of a president requires a sound mind, and by what we see today, Former Governor Tinubu is not physically fit, and will not be any different from President Buhari. I think the new name of that party should be All Retrogressive Congress,” says the Diasporans for PDP founder and national chair Honourable Victoria Pamugo.
“Every Nigerian has seen how unproductive and backward our country has been in the past eight years just because we have a retired, physically unfit person as president in Aso Rock.
Instead of giving Nigerians hope by choosing a young, physically fit, working-class Nigerian as we see in other countries like Canada and France, APC has once again shown that they do not represent the interests of the Nigerian people. Rather, they are just working to satisfy the political aspirations of a few retired men among their ranks,” Honourable Pamugo noted.
“Is Nigeria really ready to jump from frying pan to fire? APC’s choice of candidate is bad news for our country,” she lamented.
At the same time, Diasporans for PDP called all members of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to unite ahead of the campaign to defeat APC. The US-based organization, which, last week, released a congratulatory message to the PDP flag-bearer, Former Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, His Excellency Atiku Abubakar, deems it necessary to remind the party about what is really at stake in this election.
“Nigerians have really suffered a lot in the hands of their incompetent, wicked, and nonchalant government under President Buhari and his APC cronies,” says Honourable Pamugo.
“These incompetent APC leaders have taken the country more than one hundred years backward,” Honourable Pamugo lamented.
“Nigerians have no access to good jobs, good healthcare system, good education… We have no electricity, no food, and no good roads. We have no security. Nothing is working in our country. Citizens are frustrated. People are killed on the streets of Nigeria everyday and everywhere with reckless abandon.
There is no potable water. Inflation is at rates never seen before. We have an abysmal rate of youth unemployment. We have no reliable broadband internet connectivity. All bridges, schools and infrastructure built by our founding fathers are all crumbling as we watch, and no new ones are being built. We have an uncontrollable brain-drain caused by massive exodus as working-class Nigerians migrate to other countries day by day.”
“What country can survive with all these vices?” Honourable Pamugo questioned rhetorically.
“Those are the things at stake in this election. Should Nigeria continue like this? I think the answer is NO in all caps. The key question Nigerians should be asking themselves is why on earth should we give APC another chance to run this country, especially when they have scorned the youth and have continued to choose these retired, physically unfit men for president?”
“All that President Buhari and APC have given us in the past eight years is institutionalizing corruption, even as they apply selective justice by using state security agencies to go after their supposed or perceived enemies and political opponents, while at the same time protecting the fat cats that continue to milk the nation through corrupt means.”
“Restoring hope, life and dignity of every Nigerian is what is at stake in this election, and PDP has a chance to show Nigerians what we can do differently as a party to change the direction in which the country is currently going.”
“We know that some party members may have been wronged in more than one way, and everyone is right to express their dissatisfaction with one party decision or another. But in the end, we are a family. We must not let our eyes off the ball. The things at stake are strong enough to cause us to unite for the benefit of all Nigerians.”
“That is why, on behalf of Diasporans for PDP, I am calling on all PDP members and party lovers to bury the hatchet for the sake of unity. Now that our flag-bearer has emerged, our party must unite, rally around our candidate, and focus on the big fight to defeat APC in 2023. And I believe that PDP is the only party that has the chance, the system, and existing structure to be able to defeat APC,” she added.
“We do not want another four or even eight years of an incompetent, retired and wicked government in Nigeria. PDP must unite for the benefit and future of our country, as it is only through unity that we will achieve victory in this election,” she said.
“As Nigerians in the diaspora, we know that we are not eligible to vote in this election. We also know that we represent a powerful economic and influential bloc. Diasporans for PDP is ready and will help to galvanize the diaspora population to bring about real and lasting change in Nigeria,” Honourable Pamugo affirmed.
“We will mobilize our brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, uncles and families in Nigeria to vote wisely and together we will redeem our country from the harm caused by President Buhari and his APC friends over the past eight years,” she emphasized.
“We will support our party and our flag-bearer by mobilizing our volunteers on ground in every state of the federation for grassroots campaign operations, including door-knocking, speaking directly to voters and encouraging Nigerians to save their own country through the power of their vote.”