By The Punch Newspapers

The Senator representing Yobe-East, Bukar Abba Ibrahim, has given a damning verdict on the performance of his party, the All Progressives Congress, over the last three years.

Ibrahim who was a three-time governor of Yobe State said the President Muhammadu Buhari-led APC was in many ways not better than the Peoples Democratic Party it defeated in 2015.

The APC senator spoke at a dinner to mark his 70th birthday and book launch at Barcelona Hotel in Abuja on Saturday.

Ibrahim said he, like most Nigerians, had a dream that the nation would be changed for the better when the APC took over in 2015, but that more than three years down the line, those hopes had been dashed.

He warned that unlike in 2015 when it had a smooth ride to power, the APC would have to do more to convince the people of the North-East to consider voting for it because a lot had changed.

The senator, who is a founding member of the APC, said, “Without mincing words, as an elder statesman, I must say that my dreams and hopes have been dashed.

“We have certainly not done what I dreamed we would do and in many ways, we are no better than the PDP that we sought to displace.

“As we move towards the elections, I have to give a dire warning to the APC. Things are no longer the way they were in 2015 when we rode to power on a cloud of euphoria believing that things will change.

Simply put, things have not changed and many things are worse and the people are bitter. We should not assume that we can win even with massive rigging.”

The senator, who is not seeking re-election following a political arrangement which saw him ceding his seat to Governor Ibrahim Geidam, said a lot of work was required if the APC was to return to power in 2019.

Ibrahim said, “The economy has gone down because of our actions and we are blaming the past too much rather than solving the present problems. I am going to give a dire warning.

“Let the North-East not be taken for granted that we must support the APC. Our interest in the North-East has always been progressive and I will personally be watching for improvement in the APC.

“Improvements that will guarantee us victory (should) include respecting the rule of law and releasing political prisoners. If we are fighting corruption, let us fight every corrupt person and not select people in what may be seen as a one-sided witch-hunt.”

He added, “I shall sit back and continue encouraging my party to do the right thing. But if we don’t, I still reserve the capacity to ask my people to go our separate ways and do what must be done for good governance to reign in Nigeria.”

Ibrahim stressed that he had no reason to lie at his age. The senator described himself as a socialist progressive amidst politicians in the zone who were mostly capitalist conservatives.

Another APC senator who spoke on condition of anonymity because he claimed he did “not want to jeopardise ongoing peace efforts”, said the party was toying with its chances in 2019 with its poor handling of the fallout of the primaries.

The lawmaker said, “The party has not lived up to our expectations, the least one expects of a political party like the APC which promised change is for it to respect the principle of internal democracy.  A political party should respect the wishes of the majority of its members not an individual.”

‘Our problems now worse than PDP’s’ –APC Rep

Similarly, a member of the House of Representatives, Mr Kehinde Odeneye, has also expressed his bitterness over the turn of events in the APC.

Odeneye, who spoke on Sunday, warned that the party might be kicked out of office in 2019 if genuine efforts were not made to address the frustration of many loyalists.

Odeneye, who represents the Ijebu Ode/Odogbolu/Ijebu North-East Federal Constituency of Ogun State, told The PUNCH that National Assembly members were the most hit by certain developments in the party, lately, particularly their inability to get return tickets for 2019.

Odeneye alleged that many members worked for the success of the party on the promise that they would be compensated, only to have their hopes dashed.

He spoke more, “It’s very unfortunate where we have found ourselves today. If we are not able to resolve the issues, they may affect our chances in 2019.

“A lot of people are aggrieved, most especially National Assembly members, who stood by the party. There was promise of compensation but that has not been the case. The National Assembly members are the grass-roots people working for the party.”

The lawmaker hinted that President Muhammadu Buhari too was disturbed and had summoned another emergency stakeholders’ meeting for Tuesday (tomorrow) to address some of the issues.

Odeneye added, “I understand Mr President is going to meet with the stakeholders on Tuesday to step in and discuss with everybody and see how to resolve all of these issues.

“My prayer is for him to have God’s enablement to assuage the grievances of people; else winning in 2019 will require a lot of work.

“The way things are, we have to be very careful. Our issues are so much that even PDP now has fewer problems, compared to the APC. Ours are so much as in virtually all the states, there is one issue or the other.”

He noted that the APC came into power and failed to manage its success properly.

“Unfortunately, we have not been able to manage our success. The same thing that happened to the PDP in 2013, 2014, is exactly what is happening to the APC. There is no equity and justice and fairness.

“The way the PDP is going, our own is even getting worse. There will be serious problems, there will be serious problems for us,” he said.

I fear for the APC –Imo Rep

Also a House of Reps member from Imo State, Mr Nnana Igbokwe, also criticised the APC for applying “policies not known to law” in picking candidates for 2019.

Igbokwe who cited the crises in Imo, Zamfara, Rivers and Ogun State, noted that the APC “deliberately” breached the Electoral Act, the 1999 Constitution, the electoral guideline and its own constitution in deciding who would become a candidate.

He said, “In Imo State, are we saying that a man, who introduced this party should not have say in its affairs?

“Governor Rochas Okorocha brought APC to the South-East at a time they were calling it Hausa party.

“He went round the states to sell this party. Today, look at what is happening. Where on earth do you substitute someone, who participated and won the primary, with the name of another person?”

Igbowe stated that he was afraid for the APC in 2019 if it continued to hold to some of the decisions it had taken lately.

“Some of these decisions will be thrown out by the Judiciary. We had better be careful because I fear for us, I fear for 2019”, he added.

Igbokwe advised the APC to “retrace” its steps and correct some of wrong decisions it had taken in the choice of candidates.

Source: Punch