Jonathan has performed better than predecessors on anti-graft war, says PDP

THE Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)‎ yesterday said the fight against corruption in the country had yielded more positive results during the President Goodluck Jonathan administration than his predecessors.

A statement signed by the Media Director of the PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation (PDPPCO), Femi Fani-Kayode, in Abuja yesterday said: “Goodluck Jonathan had performed better than his predecessors in office in the fight against corruption, saying that he has successfully plugged all loopholes which corrupt persons take advantage of to operate freely in the country.

He also said on the other hand, the APC presidential candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, could not fight corruption because he is not only surrounded by corrupt men but also unable to give what he does not have.”

According to him: “More than any other President in the history of Nigeria, President Goodluck Jonathan has fought corruption and has successfully plugged all the loopholes that allow corrupt persons to operate freely and with impunity in our country.

“His focus is not just on arresting people without any credible evidence and parading them before television cameras in handcuffs. He believes in fighting corruption in a responsible, humane and credible manner with special emphasis on civil liberties, human rights and the rule of law.”

In another development, the APC has accused President Goodluck Jonathan of carrying his re-election desperation to a new height when he on Monday unleashed thugs on Lagos residents during a sponsored Oodua People’s Congress (OPC) protest against Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega.

In a statement issued in Lagos yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said just as it (APC) had alerted the nation in its press statement on Sunday, the President’s supporters, led by the OPC, took to major roads in the city during the rush hour traffic to unleash mayhem on the citizens, create massive gridlock that prevented many workers from reaching their places of work and destroy any APC campaign poster they could lay their hands on.

‘They said we are raising false alarm. But just as we had alerted Nigerians, the Jonathan Administration’s sponsored protest took place, with dire consequences for residents,’’ it said.

Fani-Kayode further stated: “With respect to General Buhari, it is clear to the discerning that he is the last person that can offer and deliver a credible and honest fight against corruption simply because the rule of law and due process are completely alien concepts to him. The truth is that the man belongs to the dark ages and he cannot rid himself of that mindset.

“Buhari says he now wants to fight corruption but the truth is that this is a contradiction in terms and it cannot be so simply because he is surrounded by some of the most corrupt, dishonest, incompetent, irresponsible and perverse souls in Nigeria. Anyone who doubts this needs to consider the names of some of those that are leading his party.

“A snake cannot give birth to a lion and a monkey cannot bake bread. Buhari cannot give what he does not have. He cannot fight corruption because he is surrounded by those that bask in it. His latest song about fighting corruption does not make sense simply because his party is the greatest promoter of lies, deceit, doublespeak, dishonesty and subterfuge on the African continent.” ‎

Also yesterday, the PDP alleged that “the All Progressives Congress (APC) now confronted with the reality of failure in the 2015 general elections has intensified its frenzied deployment of false alarms aimed at throwing the polity into chaos and wreck the electoral process.” PDP National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, in a statement on Monday said: “Having been exposed in its hypocrisy, lies and empty promises, the APC in obvious frustration is now engaged in dangerous mind game using wild allegations in a bid to cause panic, balkanize the nation and create the way for a reign of anarchy in the country. “For the APC, it has become a matter of ‘if we can’t have it, then let’s destroy it’. In the last couple of weeks, this opposition party and its leaders have engaged in dishing out dangerous false alarms in a bid to discredit the electoral process, heighten tension, create fear in the minds of the people and push the polity to the brinks.”

Metuh continued: “For instance, how else would one explain the false alarm by the leader of the opposition, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu on Thursday, March 12, 2015 alleging that there were plots to assassinate him, a phantom claim which was followed on Sunday, March 15 by the APC in a statement that there were plans to kill their presidential flagbearer, Gen. Buhari.”