By Kote Obe, Port Harcourt
Governors of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have asked the National Assembly to override President Muhammadu Buhari’s veto on the Electoral Act Amendment Bill.
The governor’s, who met in Port Harcourt on Monday, said overriding the veto was one sure way of bringing about the much-needed electoral reforms in Nigeria.
The governor’s, who came out with a nine-point communique, noted that there was an urgent need to conclude deliberations on the Electoral Act Amendment Bill before the 2023 general elections begin.
The meeting was convened to once again review the various challenges confronting the federating States, the state of the nation, and the PDP.
Reading the communique to journalists after the meeting, the PDP Governors’ Forum Chairman, and Governor of Sokoto State, Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal said the other option opened to the National Assembly is to delete areas of complaints in the bill.
“The meeting advised that the option of sustaining Mr. President’s veto would lead to a quicker resolution and would deny Mr. President the opportunity to once again truncate a reformed electoral jurisprudence for Nigeria. An early concluded Electoral Act is vital for credible elections.”
The PDP governors also decried the continued deterioration of the country’s economy under the leadership of the All Progressive Congress (APC) led Federal Government.
The communique said Nigerians have become accustomed to bad economic news as exemplified by the inconsistent and differential exchange rate regime, high-interest rates, unsustainable unemployment figures, and borrowing spree some of which have not been applied to important projects and other bad economic indicators.
“In particular, it is clear that the APC Government is a massive failure when compared with the records of PDP in government. The PDP handed over a $550 billion economy (the largest in Africa), but under APC, Nigeria is the Poverty Capital of the world.
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Continuing, the communique said, “In 2015, under PDP, the exchange rate was N198 per Dollar, it is now under APC almost N500 to a Dollar; In 2015, the unemployment rate was 7.3% under PDP, it is now 33%, one of the highest in the world under APC; In 2015, the Pump price of Petroleum was N87 per litre, it is now N165 per litre and climbing under APC.
“Debt Servicing now under APC takes over 98% of the Federal budget. The tales of woe are endless.”
The PDP Governors also noted that the management of the oil and gas resources and the administration of Federation Account remittances have remained opaque, confusing, and non – transparent.
“In addition, the transition to NNPC Ltd under the Petroleum Industry Act has not been properly streamlined to ensure that the interests of all the tiers of Government are protected, in accordance with the 1999 Constitution.”
Also, the PDP governors lamented the protracted insecurity situation in the country, noting that the APC administration had lacked enduring strategies to confront the terrorists, kidnappers, bandits, and other criminals
“The meeting expressed regrets that Mr. President is unwilling, from his recent comments discountenancing the proposals for state policing, to participate in reviewing the structural problems of tackling insecurity in Nigeria.
“The governors urged Mr. President to reconsider his position on decentralization and restructuring of the security architecture as the most viable solution, together with proper arming, funding and training requirements for Security Agencies.”
“The next election is a very consequential election that should be used to end the dominance of very youth unfriendly APC Government; a government that had the arrogance to deny Nigerian youths of the use of TWITTER, a business friendly tool for the young, for over a year. The youths should empower themselves to determine who leads them.”
The PDP Governors congratulated the Senator Dr. Iyorchia Ayu-led National Executive Committee and commended them for hitting the ground running with respect to repositioning the PDP into a credible vehicle for rescuing and rebuilding Nigeria which has been battered by bad economy, insecurity, unemployment and other social ills by the incompetent and inept APC administration.
Governor Nyesom Ezenwo Wike of Rivers State, who hosted the meeting was commended by forum for the great leadership performance he has entrenched in Rivers State.
The governors who attended the meeting were, Rt. Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal (Sokoto ); Udom Emmanuel ( Akwa Ibom); Senator Douye Diri ( Bayelsa); Samuel Ortom (Benue); Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa (Delta); Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu); Oluseyi Abiodun Makinde (Oyo); Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri (Adamawa); Darius Dickson Ishaku (Taraba) and Bala Mohammed (Bauchi)
