The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), led by Kabiru Turaki, has criticised Festus Keyamo, minister of aviation, over his comments on the party’s affirmation of former President Goodluck Jonathan as its presidential candidate for the 2027 elections.
Jonathan’s candidacy was ratified on Saturday at a special
national convention in Abuja.
Although Jonathan was not present at the event, his
certificate of return was received on his behalf by Fred Agbedi, a member of
the house of representatives from Bayelsa state.
The former president has yet to state his intention to run
for office publicly.
On Sunday, Keyamo asked Jonathan to reject the presidential
ticket, describing the Turaki-led PDP’s action as a “bizarre comedy”.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, Ini Ememobong, national
publicity secretary of the Turaki faction, said Keyamo lacked the moral
authority to offer political advice to Jonathan.
Ememobong said the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is
apprehensive about Jonathan’s planned return to office.
“The desperation and anxiety that have increasingly
characterised reactions from the ruling APC to the growing national clamour for
President Jonathan’s return to leadership make it necessary to set the record
straight,” the statement reads.
Ememobong said Keyamo, who was known for challenging
governments and defending democratic principles, now appeared comfortable with
the “shrinking of political space for the opposition”.
He asked the minister to focus on the challenges in the
aviation sector and the broader administration rather than commenting on the
PDP’s internal affairs.
Ememobong said Nigerians are more concerned about economic
hardship, insecurity, rising unemployment and declining purchasing power than
political remarks directed at Jonathan.
He said no “intimidation, blackmail, or scaremongering can
prevent Nigerians from freely expressing their political preferences or
supporting leaders they believe can help reposition the country”.
“If Festus Keyamo truly wishes to offer advice, he should
begin by advising the APC-led administration to address the challenges
confronting ordinary Nigerians. Until then, his attempts to lecture others on
governance and political judgment will continue to ring hollow,” he said.
“Finally, if any political party has exemplified
cluelessness in public administration, it has been the APC-led federal
government since 2015. So if Keyamo is attempting to point a finger of
cluelessness, he should look at the four pointing back at him.”
Ememobong said democracy guarantees citizens the right to
make leadership choices without interference from those who presently occupy
public office.
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