Jonathan’s endorsement mockery of democracy, says APC

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has described the endorsement of President Goodluck Jonathan as the sole presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as a mockery of democracy.

In a statement in Lagos yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the endorsement came as a great price to Nigerians, considering the deals struck to make President Jonathan the sole candidate.

It said the parody of democracy that the endorsement represents has exposed the shameless hypocrisy of the PDP, which is ever so eager to accuse other parties of lacking in internal democracy.

“Obviously, those fellows in the PDP have never heard of the saying that those who must come to equity must come with clean hands. PDP, where is your own internal democracy now that you have turned your party into a fiefdom controlled by one and only one person?

“While endorsements are part and parcel of democracy, they are never done to the exclusion of other candidates. This is simply not democratic. When Barack Obama was endorsed by his party’s bigwigs to contest the US Presidency, the party never excluded Hillary Clinton from its primaries. This is how it is done,” APC said.

The party said the price being paid for Jonathan’s endorsement by Nigeria was too heavy, considering that the PDP governors, who

spearheaded the endorsement, had secured perpetual immunity from prosecution by anti-graft bodies, including the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC);  automatic tickets for all first-term PDP governors, whether or not they performed, automatic tickets for all PDP governors running for the Senate, as well as free ride back to the upper chamber by Senate President David Mark.

“It is now an Open Sesame for the PDP governors, who have no prying anti-corruption agencies watching over their shoulders. They can now simply see the commonwealth as an extension of their deep pockets. The endorsement is also a vote of approval for the proceeds of corruption that have been powering the noisy and outrageous Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN),” it said.

APC accused President Jonathan of desecrating democracy because of his desperation for re-election, adding: “It is a cruel irony that a man who has benefited, more than anyone else, from this democracy has been the one who has been doing everything possible to undermine it.”

The party said President Jonathan has also abandoned domestic issues while seeking international relevance, in a clear negation of the aphorism that charity begins at home.

It added: “This President has basically abandoned governance. Unprecedented corruption is mounting, insecurity stalks the land and Nigerians grope in darkness as power generation has plummeted. This President has yet to tell Nigerians the full involvement of his government in the $9.3 million that was illegally ferried to South Africa on a private jet. This President has yet to tell Nigerians why he has continued to hobnob with a suspected sponsor of Boko Haram, who is supposed to be under a probe by his administration. Yet, he is eager to attend meetings with serious-minded leaders, who have done well for their own people.

“Mr. President, it is only when you have achieved success domestically that you can parade yourself internationally. You cannot look good abroad if you look ugly at home.”