It beats the imagination of any democrat or progressive in a democracy to observe the continued political defiance and grandstanding of the All Progressive Peoples Party (APC) on issues of national interest. First, the party blatantly refused to participate in the national conference which was convoked in 2014 to discuss challenges confronting the Nigerian Nation and chart a new course for national unity and prosperity. The party gave her reasons for not taking part in the discussions.
In a live programme on AIT, Kakaaki, sometime last year, the National Publicity Secretary of APC, Mr. Lai Mohammed, said |”The APC does not trust the person of President Goodluck Jonathan who convened the Conference and therefore we cannot participate in it”.
As the 2015 general elections gets under way, the Nigerian Election Debate Group (NEDG) has made elaborate arrangements for all political parties to appear for debates on issues bordering on their plans, policies and programmes for the Nigerian people, and to explain why Nigerians should vote for candidates of their party. So far, the Directors General of all the Presidential Campaign Teams of the 14 political parties or their representatives were invited for a debate, APC was conspicuously absent.
With the time set for Vice-presidential and presidential debates, the APC has again publicly declined to participate in this much awaited debate, citing bias on the side of NEDG. This position is unbelievable. The action is incomprehensible, and one it hard to reconcile the decisions of APC’s leadership on such critical matters as these with public expectations of political parties in a democracy. At best, democracy is about public participation, dialogue, debates, discussion, ideas, freedom of speech, and submission to public scrutiny.
Granted, the APC leadership did not and does not believe in the person of President Goodluck Jonathan and therefore refused to participate in the National Conference. Granted also, the APC does believe in the impartiality of the Nigerian Election Debate Group, which membership is drawn from Broadcasting Organisations of Nigeria (BON). But the APC uses the same radio and TV stations, run by individual members of BON to air its campaigns. At different times in the past, the APC leadership had appeared on such TV stations as NTA, AIT, Channels, etc. These are all members of BON. If the APC does not believe in the ability of Nigerian media to inform Nigerians about its programmes and policies, does APC actually believe that Nigerians have a right to know what the party stands for and what kind of change it wants to bring about?
By declining to participate in the proposed presidential debate being organized by independent body, NEDG, to inform the public about issues, the APC has again taken the Nigerian public for a ride. By implication, the Party is saying to the Nigerian electorates: “You don’t need to know anything. We know what we want to do, and you better take it. No questions”. This is an insult on our collective intelligence. What an irony! What a way to champion Change! It is absolutely incredulous! The Nigerian public wants all Political parties including the APC to participate in this important debate. We have a right to know and to ask questions.
Nigerians First. Nigerians Always.
PDP Integrity Vanguard
