Stephen Angbulu
18 February 2022
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The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Iyorchia Ayu, has affirmed that the party would soon make public its revised manifesto as soon as the committee reviewing it’s policies and programmes concludes its work.
This is as he commended the Independent National Electoral Commission for its conduct of last week’s FCT Council polls; calling on the Commission to ensure a level playing field for all political parties ahead of the 2023 elections.
Ayu stated this on Thursday when he received in an audience the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Catriona Laing, at the Party’s National Secretariat in Abuja.
He said, “Very soon, the manifesto of the party will be out. We have already set up a committee that is working on the party’s manifesto with details on virtually everything- economy, foreign relations, agriculture, security among others. When it is ready, we would like to share it because we want people to know what we stand for that is different from other parties.
“The PDP was formed as a party opposed to dictatorship and we have continued to chart that course for a long time whether in good times or bad times. We were able to win elections from the beginning in 1999. We led in building some of the democratic institutions that exist today.
“Along the line and given our commitment to democracy, we had an election which we lost; we accepted defeat because of our deep belief in the democratic process.
“We expect all umpire institutions including INEC to carry out their work without bias against us as major opposition party. And so far, the signs are there given what happened in the FCT council election last week. We won 44 councillorship seats while the ruling party got only 18. This is a good sign.”
He added that winning the chairmanship seats in the Abuja Municipal Area Council, Kuje and Abaji is proof of the good fortune awaiting the PDP in the forthcoming elections.
He berated the Buhari-led regime for its management of the economy in the past six years, connecting this to the jobs lost across all sectors.
“There’s massive unemployment. The security situation has worsened but we believe that we can do better,” he said.
Ayu also urged the international community to assist Nigeria in deepening democracy by rising up to condemn every anti-democratic action by the nation’s political leadership.
Earlier in her remark, the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Catriona Laing, congratulated the PDP for its performance in the recent FCT polls, emphasising that the British government expects the 2023 elections to be free, fair and credible.
“We will be following with keen interest the manifestos and the policy of your party, hoping for good policy that will make Nigeria move forward and take her rightful place in the global community.
“We want to know what we can do to collectively inspire the youths to believe in politics and in the future of their country,” she said