Influential
politician and chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, Achike Udenwa
has said that the PDP will bring an end to the Buhari-led APC
administration in 2019.
Achike Udenwa
While speaking in an exclusive interview with Daily Sun, former
governor of Imo State and chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party
(PDP), Achike Udenwa, boasted that the Peoples Democratic Party will
bring an end to the APC administration headed by President Muhammadu
Buhari in 2019.
Udenwa who noted that the ruling party came in on a populist
mandate but in the last two years and some months, it done nothing,
instead, the situation has worsened, said the PDP would support Buhari
to win the APC presidential ticket as it will be easier for PDP if the
ruling party decides to field Buhari for a second term.
Here are the excerpts;
What should Nigerians expect in 2019?
Many factors will determine 2019, including the topic we just
discussed now – restructuring, the economy. Politically, no party is
sure that it is going to win because All Progressives Congress (APC)
that is in power has not done well. The party came in on a populist
mandate. They came in promising change, as they said people were
suffering, and they promised to turn around their lives and they carried
the day.
Alas, we have seen the party in the last two years and some months,
that the APC has done nothing, instead, the situation has worsened. The
exchange rate that was between N190 and N200 to a dollar, is now about
N370. The recession set in.
If anybody is telling you that we are out of recession, it is not
true. That we pretend to be out of recession is because the price of oil
has moved up a little bit and the quantity we are selling has also
moved up. We have not come out of recession. What is our GDP? In terms
of productivity, what have we done, have we started producing more
agricultural goods, have we started looking at our solid minerals, have
we started manufacturing as we should do, has power improved? These are
issues that are going to determine 2019.
The basic issues are still there, and they have not been tackled.
So, if anybody is telling you that we are out of recession, it is not
true.
You can only be out of recession when you increase your local
production, when you decrease your food import and import of finished
goods, you improve your power and your industries are working, then you
would be out of recession, and not when the price of oil has increased
and the quantity of oil you are selling has increased then you say you
are out of recession. Tomorrow the price of oil can go down. It is
volatile. It is not something you can bank on, and it is not within your
control.
You said no party is sure of winning the 2019 presidential
election; the PDP is beating its chest that it would take back power,
while APC is accusing the opposition party of plunging Nigeria into this
mess, what is your stand on this?
PDP didn’t plunge the nation into this economic crisis. The
Jonathan administration wasn’t perfect, it was still managing the
economy the best way it could. The economy became so bad after the APC
came into power. The economy plunged following the utterances of the
President. At a time, Buhari said Nigerians were all corrupt. When you
made that type of statement, you scared foreign investors and they all
left.
How many Nigerians knew that a lot of foreign financial
institutions were investing in the Nigeria Stock Exchange? Many
Nigerians didn’t know this.
A lot of investors from outside came in because our shares were
relatively cheap when you convert them to foreign exchange; it was
lucrative and has better returns, and so they went in and bought a lot
of shares in the stock exchange and buoyed up the economy. But when you
started saying that all Nigerians were corrupt, they left and withdrew
their money. That was part of the collapse of the economy.
If the present trend continues where PDP is trying to put its house
completely in order, then it will give APC a run for its money. APC
cannot win, Nigerians have seen their deceit and they are disappointed.
The North that voted overwhelmingly for APC, go there now, the
suffering is so much, and a lot of them are saying it openly that they
regretted voting the party.
Look at the Southwest that also voted APC, elder statesman, Chief
Ayo Adebanjo said the region was deceived to vote for the party. There
is nothing good that has come out of APC; it is disenchantment all over
the country.
One of the things that ignited the crisis in the country is when
Mr. President talked about those who gave him 97 per cent and those who
gave him five per cent. A politician doesn’t say that. When you contest
an election as a politician, not everybody would vote for you. You know
exactly those who voted for you and those who didn’t vote for you, but
you carry everybody along.
You cannot make such a public statement about those with 97 per
cent and those with five per cent, and you see it implemented everyday.
These are the things that have plunged the APC government into the mess
they are carrying Nigeria into.
Click here to read the full interview on Daily Sun.
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