The crisis rocking the opposition Peoples Democratic Party is the handiwork of the All Progressives Congress.
A former governorship aspirant in Enugu State on the platform of the PDP, Barr Nwabueze Ugwu, stated this in Enugu on Tuesday.
Barr Ugwu, a former member of the Enugu State House of Assembly, said what is happening in opposition political parties in Nigeria under the APC administration did not start today.
He traced it shortly after the nation’s independence when the Western Region was engulfed in a similar crisis and the allegation that the crisis was being fuelled by the National Council of Nigeria the Cameroons of Zik and the Northern Elements Progressive Union, NEPU.
According to him, “The party in power does not like opposition so they can continue to lord it over Nigerians. APC appears to be a good student of history.
“PDP also once claimed that they would rule Nigeria for sixty years until the 2014 tsunami swept the party off. APC wants to stifle the opposition. APC is the headache of PDP.”
He accused APC of being the factor that still kept PDP’s national acting Chairman, Umar Damagun, in power despite the provisions of the party’s constitution, adding that the FCT Minister Nyesom Wike had found in Damagun “a willing tool”.
He said, “That is why you hardly hear the PDP hierarchy criticise the harsh policies of the Tinubu administration. Intra-party problems in various opposition parties reflect the wider structure of Nigeria.
“When the crisis in Rivers started, Tinubu supported Wike and gave Gov Fubara tough conditions which he accepted. Under Wike as governor, he was the leader of the PDP in Rivers State.
“Tinubu wanted Wike to continue to remain the leader of the party in Rivers to destabilise PDP. It is a pity that profligacy has taken over this country. People worship money.”
Ugwu said the development was undermining Nigeria’s democracy.
According to him, “It is not good for the Nigerian democracy and even APC themselves. Do you the number of Nigerians committing suicide daily as a result of hardship?
“You can evaluate the increasing prices of petroleum products, and no opposition is talking. In a modern democracy, it is the virile opposition that makes good governance thrive. If APC kills the opposition, they would have killed democracy and also APC as a party.”