By Sunday Iduh
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors’ Forum has said that in addition to their earlier recommendations, it was high time the Federal Government (FG) brought the activities of bandits, kidnappers and terrorists to an end, through increased use of military equipment, traditional means of conflict resolution and technology for surveillance and the development of the political will to flush them out.
According to the governors, kidnapping, banditry and terrorism are not business ventures as claimed by the All Progressive Congress (APC) but heinous state crimes, that was destroying the Nigerian economy, the educational and social future of the nation’s children and causing significant social upheavals in society.
The governors who met in Bauchi, Bauchi State deliberated on the state of the nation, reviewed the deteriorating state of the country’s democracy, the economic and security situation in the country and the state of the PDP as the main opposition platform in Nigeria
The forum in a communiqué issued at the end of the meeting, condemned the use of underhand tactics to arm twist some PDP governors and other stakeholders to join the APC, a political party which they said, has wrecked Nigeria’s economy, turned Nigeria into a killing field and has nothing to offer Nigerians but misery and bad governance.
They stressed the need for a free, fair and credible elections in the country and called on the National Assembly to entrench electronic transmission of election results in the nation’s electoral process.
The communiqué reads: “On the Electoral Act Amendment Bill, the Governors identified with the need for a free, fair and credible elections in the country and called on the National Assembly to entrench Electronic transmission of results of elections in the nation’s electoral jurisprudence.
“The meeting requested Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the only body empowered by the Constitution to conduct elections, to deploy appropriate technologies necessary to ensure that the votes of every Nigerian is counted and made to count. The meeting further called on the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), especially, the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF), Nigerian Communications Satellite Ltd (NIGCOMSAT), Telephone Companies (Telcos) and all relevant stakeholders to ensure that universal access and service of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are provided especially in rural, un-served and under-served areas of the country before the 2023 General elections.
“The meeting condemned the attempt to foist on all political parties, one method of conducting primaries, that is, by direct method only through the Electoral Act Amendment Bill. The Governors noted that the method is prone to massive rigging, as evidenced by a situation where President Buhari scored about 15 million votes in the 2018 APC Direct Primaries only to score 15 million votes from the entire country in the 2019 General Election. The Governors advised that political parties, should be allowed to decide whether to use direct or indirect method of conducting primaries as part of internal democracy in political parties.
“The Governors reiterated, once again, the need for the NNPC and other revenue generating agencies of Government to strictly abide by the Constitution by remitting all their Revenue less cost of Production into the Federation Account as provided for by S.162 of the Constitution.
“The meeting condemned, once again, the use of underhand tactics to arm twist some PDP Governors and other stakeholders to join the APC, a political party that has wrecked Nigeria’s economy, turned Nigeria into a killing field and has nothing to offer Nigerians but misery and bad governance.
“The Governors condemned Mr President and APC for turning the Presidential Villa, that belongs to all Nigerians, into the new APC headquarters, where coerced PDP members are being paraded at intervals.
“On the economy, the meeting admonished the APC Federal Government to collaborate more with State Governments to stem the unemployment scourge affecting the youths of Nigeria, through technology and increased production in all fields of endeavour, reiterating that Government should stop paying lip service on the Ease of Doing Business, as foreign direct investments have continued to fall partly due to obstacles placed on foreign companies wishing to invest in Nigeria. A glaring example is that of Facebook who insisted on investing in Nigeria rather than Ghana, and is being frustrated by regulatory authorities.
“On security of lives and properties, in addition to our earlier recommendations, it is time to bring the activities of bandits, kidnappers and terrorists to an end, through increased use of military equipment, traditional means of conflict resolution and technology for surveillance and the development of the political will to flush them out. Kidnapping, banditry and terrorism are not business ventures as claimed by APC but heinous state crimes, that is destroying the Nigerian economy, the educational and social future of our children and causing significant social upheavals in society, the PDP Governors admonished.
“The PDP Governors enjoined all Nigerians of goodwill to take advantage of the ongoing registration of Voters by INEC to register to vote, thereby arming themselves with the necessary tools in the struggle to rescue Nigeria from the APC maladministration.
“Furthermore, the general public, especially our Youths and Women are implored to use the opportunity of the PDP e-registration exercise which will kick off soon, to register as PDP members, while PDP Members should update their membership electronically.
The governors expressed appreciation to the Governor of Bauchi State, Senator Bala Mohamed, for providing a conducive atmosphere for the meeting and the huge difference he has made in the provision of infrastructures and general welfare of citizens of Bauchi State, the Pearl of Tourism.
Those in attendance are Aminu Waziri Tambuwal of Sokoto State who is the Chairman of the forum; Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State, Vice Chairman; Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom State; Douye Diri of Bayelsa State; Samuel Ortom of Benue State; Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State; Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State.
Others are Nyesom Wike of Rivers State; Oluseyi Makinde of Oyo State; Ahmadu Fintiri of Adamawa State; Godwin Obaseki of Edo State; Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State; Darius Ishaku of Taraba State and Mahdi Mohd, Zamfara Statedeputy Governor.