The All Progressives Congress has rejected Obasanjo’s condemnation of Buhari administration. This was part of the outcome of a meeting of the party’s National Working Committee in Abuja on Wednesday.
It was contained in a statement by the National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi.
The party said the APC remained the best option for Nigerians and rejected Obasanjo’s call for another political movement.
The APC said it did not agree with everything the former president said, especially on his assessment of the government and the party.
The ruling party, however, stated that it had noted the issues raised by the former President and assumed that “these were made in good faith.”
The statement partly read, “As a father of the nation, we understand that the former President would feel obliged to intervene if certain things are not being done in a particular way.
However, we believe that such interventions should be for the sole purpose of improving the system and encouraging the relevant institutions to work harder.
“It is for this reason that we disagree with the former President in what appears like a wholesale dismissal of the entire political system in the country.
“We acknowledge our challenges as a new political party, even as we believe that the APC remains the best option at this time for Nigerians who are genuinely committed to the progress of the country.”
The APC also noted that there were about 72 other registered political parties in the country and the people reserved the right to support any of these.
It pointed out that Nigeria’s democracy itself was young and “hence all the parties face sundry challenges, but we have made progress since 1999, with President Obasanjo himself being a major contributor to our progress as a multi-party democracy.”
The party said, “We believe that the respected former President should not give the impression that none of the political parties in the country is good enough for Nigerians and the only solution to the current challenges that we face is a completely new arrangement.
“The task of building a political party is not done overnight. Even the oldest of our political parties is still very young in comparison with advanced democracies.
“Our democracy, therefore, stands a better chance of becoming really strong if we allow the parties to find their identities, even if in the process they make mistakes and appear to be ‘wobbling.’ No political party arrives fully formed.
“We are the ruling party. We must take responsibility; take valuable lessons on board and continue to improve. Regardless of the current challenges, we are confident that brighter future is assured for our party and our country,” he added.
