Stop insulting the president –Group warns APC

A pressure group, The Strategic Team (TST) has asked the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to pick up the challenge on the debate of the scorecard of President Goodluck Jonathan thrown at it by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and desist from what the group called “ an unwarranted indecent attacks on the office and person of the President of Nigeria.

A statement in Abuja by the Director General of the Group, Daniel Ohiomoba, said it was unfortunate that the APC has misconstrued vitriolic attacks and destructive criticism of the Federal Government as an engagement rule and a measure of its responsiveness as an opposition party.

Asking the APC not to make destructive criticisms its trade mark, the group said the opposition could still keep the ruling party and its government on their toes without necessarily trading in half truths and outright lies, arguing that using foul means to create relevance, exposes the emptiness of the opposition and could cause restiveness in the polity.

“We condemn this manner of opposition that relinquishes its traditional role of objective criticisms to trade on vicious lies and deceit, an opposition party that takes as hobby, an unrestrained distraction of the smooth delivery of democratic dividends to the people. The APC has a duty to Nigerians to respond to the challenge of the PDP on this issue of debate or be damned as a loud mouthed megaphone of lies.”

“The underlying import of this challenge by the PDP is that the party is not in for speculations as the achievements of President Jonathan are in the public domain for all Nigerians to see in all critical sectors such as in education where six new federal universities were created and thousands of helpless children taken out of the streets in the North under the Almajiri education system, the rebirth of our rail system as well as thousands of kilometers in road infrastructure and the second Niger Bridge,” the group said.

The Strategic Team further said that despite the current challenges in the distribution and marketing of the petroleum products, the situation has drastically improved from what it was before the advent of Jonathan Presidency.

while further commending the President for the counter- insurgency measures recently unfolded by the government that has beaten terrorists to the brinks.

“It is high time, therefore the APC reconsidered its style and be objective in its criticisms. Let it acknowledge where government deserves commendation while responsibly providing alternatives in grey areas. That is the essence of opposition. A situation where the APC has clearly abandoned this to hurl all manner of insults simple because of the humble disposition of the President must be condemned by all well meaning Nigerians,” the group said.

Source: Sun