Speak out on restructuring, PDP tells Tinubu, El-Rufai, Amaechi, others

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has challenged leaders of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to speak out on President Muhammadu Buhari’s decision to go back on their party’s campaign promise of implementing an administrative restructuring for better governance of the country.

The PDP also tasked the APC leaders to respond to their members in the senate who, through their spokesperson, Senator Ajibola Basiru, have declared that restructuring, as promised by APC, is only a “slogan.”

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The Presidency had on Thursday, asked prominent Nigerians agitating for restructuring of the country to channel their demands to the National Assembly.

But the opposition party in a statement on Saturday by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, asked the APC bigwigs to give clarifications on the “revelation” that neither the APC nor its leaders had submitted any memorandum for the promised restructuring and devolution of power upon which they rode to power in 2015.

“The PDP calls out APC leaders including its Caretaker Chairman, Governor  Mai Mala Buni; its National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu; Governor Nasir el-Rufai, Governor Kayode Fayemi, Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi; Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed among others, to speak out on Mr President’s recent declaration on restructuring as well as the position of the senate.

“Our party holds that the inaction of the APC in the face of the dismissive declaration by the Buhari presidency that Nigerians, who they had promised restructuring, should now channel their demands to the National Assembly, only goes to further validate the assertions among Nigerians that the APC is a deceptive power-grabbing platform, which is not interested in governance or fulfilling its promises to Nigerians.

“It is very disappointing that almost six years after riding to power on the promise of restructuring, the Buhari Presidency has made no concrete effort towards forwarding an executive bill to the National Assembly on the matter; only to now ask Nigerians to carry their burden to the legislative houses, ” part of the statement said.

But efforts to get the APC officials’ comments proved abortive as they didn’t respond to calls or text messages sent to them at the time of filing this report.