Port Harcourt – Governors elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have urged the national assembly to quickly conclude deliberations on the Electoral Act Amendment Bill either by overriding Mr President’s veto or deleting areas of complaints.
The governors made the call on Monday in a communique issued at the end of their meeting held in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
According to the governors, an early concluded Electoral Act is vital to credible elections in 2023.
They advised that the ” option of sustaining Mr President’s veto would lead to a quicker resolution and would deny Mr President the opportunity to once again truncate a reformed Electoral jurisprudence for Nigeria. ”
The governors also lamented the continued state of insecurity in the country, the persistent and ceaseless flow of blood on a daily basis in many parts of Nigeria and the near collapse of the nation’s security architecture .
” The strategy to confront terrorists, kidnappers, bandits and other criminals is still a major problem of the APC administration,” the statement said.
The governors then appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to reconsider his position on state police , saying that decentralisation and restructuring of the security architecture remain the most viable solution to the problem of insecurity.
They also observed that the Nigerian Economy has continued to deteriorate while Nigerians have become numb and accustomed to bad economic news .
According to the governors, the nation’s poor economic outlook are exemplified by the inconsistent and differential exchange rate regime, high interest rates, unsustainable unemployment figures and borrowing spree , some of which have not been applied to important projects, and other bad economic indicators.
“In particular, it is clear that the APC government is a massive failure when compared with the records of PDP in government.
” The PDP handed over a $550 billion economy (the largest in Africa), but under APC, Nigeria is the Poverty Capital of the world.
“In 2015, under PDP, the exchange rate was N198 per dollar, it is now under APC almost N500 to a Dollar.
“In 2015, unemployment rate was 7.3 per cent under PDP, it is now 33 per cent , one of the highest in the world under APC.
” In 2015, the pump price of petroleum was N87 per litre, it is now N165 per litre and climbing under APC.
“Debt servicing now under APC takes over 98 per cent of the federal budget. The tales of woe is endless,” the communique said.
The PDP governors also noted that the management of the country’s oil and gas resources and the administration of Federation Account remittances have remained opaque, confusing and non – transparent.
” In addition, the transition to NNPC Ltd under the Petroleum Industry Act has not been properly streamlined to ensure that the interests of all the tiers of Government are protected, consistent with the 1999 Constitution,” it stated.
As part of preparations for the 2023 elections, the governors called on eligible Nigerians, particularly youths, to register en masse with INEC so that they will be able to vote during the elections.
It noted that the 2023 elections are a very consequential ones that ” should be used to end the dominance of very youth unfriendly APC government; a government that had the arrogance to deny Nigerian youths of the use of TWITTER, a business friendly tool for the young, for over a year.
” The youths should empower themselves to determine who leads them,’ they said.
The governors then congratulated the host, Governor Nyesom Wike for the very high standards of hosting and for the great leadership performance he has entrenched in Rivers State.
Present at the meeting are ;
Governor Aminu Tambuwal, Sokoto State and Chairman of the PDP Governors Forum, Gov. Udom Emmanuel , Akwa Ibom State , Gov. Sen. Douye Diri , Bayelsa State ,Gov. Samuel Ortom , Benue State, Gov. Ifeanyi Okowa , Delta State, Gov. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, Enugu State , Gov. Nyesom Wike, Rivers State,Gov. Oluseyi Makinde , Oyo State,Gov. Ahmadu Fintiri , Adamawa State,Gov. Darius Ishaku, Taraba State and Gov. Bala Mohammed, Bauchi State. (vitalnews)
