Address by Prince Uche Secondus, National Chairman,
Peoples Democratic Party on the occasion of the 80th National Executive Committee (NEC) Meeting (Emergency) held at the PDP National Headquarters, Wadata Plaza, Abuja, 23rd July, 2018.
Protocol
It is with deep sense of responsibility that I welcome you to this emergency National Executive Committee meeting of our great party.
This meeting was called to review recent happenings in the country and to take critical decisions that would help salvage the country’s democracy.
Your Excellencies, great leaders of our Party, Nigeria is truly at a crossroad.
In our wildest imagination, none of us thought that Nigeria could deteriorate to the level it is today.
Life is no longer worth anything with rivers of blood a constant spectacle.
“The monkeys and baboons” have been truly soaked in blood.
No day passes without innocent Nigerians being slaughtered in their numbers by killer herdsmen, bandits or Boko Haram.
Insecurity has so worsened that people are genuinely scared to travel freely. Yet this was a government that promised to wipe out Boko Haram in a matter of weeks. The lack of political will to rein in the killer herdsmen has left Nigerians and the international community in shock.
The economy is in shambles as Nigerians yearn for pre-2015 era.
Unemployment has not only worsened under this APC government, most Nigerians wonder where the next meal will come from.
The government is busy compromising institutions of state, from security agencies and anti-corruption bodies to INEC.
They have been turned into tools in the hands of the APC for intimidation and persecution of the opposition.
Another example of how the system has decayed under the watch of the APC is the recent Ekiti election.
What happened in Ekiti was a sham and mockery of democracy. It was disgraceful.
The security agencies threw decency and fairness over board, openly tear gassing, intimidating and arresting PDP supporters. They chased away PDP agents, provided cover for APC thugs to snatch and stuff ballot boxes all in the bid to assist INEC to rig the election in favour of APC.
The Government House Ekiti was invaded, the governor was manhandled in spite of his immunity, Ekiti people had a raw deal.
Even national and international observers who voiced out their genuine observations were harassed by security agents and their offices ransacked for speaking the truth.
This must not be allowed to happen in Osun.
I must thank all our Party leaders, PDP Governors, Civil Society and the Ekiti people for coming out en-masse and standing by the PDP, although the APC tried to make sure their votes did not count.
Let me assure our teeming supporters that we have all the polling unit results and over- whelming records of electoral infractions by the APC, security agencies and INEC. We will reclaim our mandate in court.
The situation we find the country demands that all people of goodwill must join hands to legally see out this incompetent APC government.
In the course of this meeting, we will brief you on the efforts being made to build a coalition of democrats to rescue Nigeria.
One thing is clear, Nigeria is heading for disaster and Nigerians are looking up to PDP and other democrats to halt the slide. We shall not disappoint them.
Welcome, again, to this NEC meeting.
