Nigerians finally received an apology from The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday through the official Twitter handle of the National Chairman of the party Prince Uche Secondus, the party sought forgiveness for mistakes made while in power.
It said a rescue programme to take Nigeria out of the bondage of economic, social and political degradation had become necessary.
At a public discourse tagged “Nation Building: resetting the agenda” convened by the PDP in Abuja, its national chairman, Uche Secondus, apologised to Nigerians on behalf of his party, saying: “We are sorry. We have made several mistakes.”
As the National Chairman of @OfficialPDPNig we admit that we have made some mistakes and we want to apologize for our past mistakes. We have learnt from our mistakes and we say “sorry” to all Nigerians that has entrusted so much to us#NewThinking #RescueNigeria
— Prince Uche Secondus (@UcheSecondus) March 26, 2018
Explaining what the party begged for, he said: “In the past, there were impunity and imposition, we are not spirits, we have to be humble to apologise for imposition, impunity and other wrongdoings.
While in government, there was no nepotism, but today, nepotism has been taken to the highest level by this government of APC.
“We have to stand before the people and apologise. We made mistakes. Unlike APC that will lie and use another lie to cover it, we will apologise for our past mistakes. We are humans that are bound to make mistakes. How long are we going to lie to our children?
“Since it is said that charity begins at home, I am the very first to admit that our party the Peoples Democratic Party of Nigeria made many mistakes. Consequently, we were roundly sanctioned by Nigerians, leading to our loss at the polls in 2015.
“I use this opportunity to apologise to Nigerians unequivocally for the several shortcomings of our party in the near and far past. It was all part of an evolution process without which there can be no maturity.”
Secondus promised that under his leadership, there would not be imposition, nobody would be allowed to influence the primaries that would lead to the emergence of a presidential candidate for the party.
“My colleagues and I at the National Working Committee have vowed to uphold the rule of law as enshrined in our party constitution.
“Power has been devolved to the zonal, state and ward levels. PDP national headquarters at Wadata House will only co-ordinate affairs.
There are no votes to be solicited or won at Wadata House. We are committed to the rule of law and assure you that not only will your votes count in our primaries across the land, your voice will be heard.”
The PDP chairman said the party would stand by the truth, adding that whatever happened in 2015 would not be allowed again as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) would not be able to rig elections.
Secondus said the time had come to initiate serious people-oriented policies.
“There are certain circumstances that make nation building top priority. It is often contemplated after a country has gone through a war, just gained independence or there is a total collapse of its economy.
“We are certainly not at war in the conventional sense of it. Neither have we just gained independence. Rather, we are almost 58 years as a nation but our dear nation, Nigeria, is in very dire straits. Our economy has been under immense pressure, especially in the last thirty-four months of governance by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
“Not even during the fratricidal civil war has this country been so divided along ethnic and religious fault lines. When a country is in such a precarious situation, nation building becomes absolutely inevitable.”
PDP said that it was based on an overwhelming demand that it activated an aggressive and urgent process of resetting the agenda for nation building in a multi-pronged initiative tagged “Rescue Nigeria.”
“PDP will serve as the rallying point for a new socio-political order. We will lead the charge by using our elected representatives and organs to boldly address critical national issues like restructuring, devolution of power, ‘not too young to run,’ gender equality, economic advancement, corruption, insecurity, unity, and good governance.”
