A former Kogi lawmaker, Dino Melaye, has alleged that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is no longer functioning as an independent opposition but has instead been bought over by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Melaye made the claim on Friday while speaking on Politics Today, a current affairs programme on Channels Television.
“PDP has been purchased. By who? By APC.
PDP is a parastatal of APC. PDP is a department of APC.
In fact, they take dates for NEC meetings and NWC sessions from the Villa,” he said.
The former senator questioned the conduct of PDP governors, accusing them of failing to play the role of opposition leaders.
“Just look at the number of governors in PDP today. Are these governors acting like opposition governors? It’s a question I’m putting to you.
You know the role of an opposition, and you know how powerful Nigerian governors are.
Are they acting like opposition governors, or are those remaining in PDP simply holding forth for the APC?” he asked.
Melaye also criticized former Niger State Governor, Babangida Aliyu, for making comments he claimed undermined the credibility of the opposition.
“With due respect to my uncle, Babangida Aliyu, you heard him just two days ago saying that if we could tolerate Buhari for eight years, then we should tolerate this government for another four years.
Is that the voice of an opposition figure? Is that a statement from someone who isn’t aligned with the APC?” he said.
Describing the current political atmosphere as troubling, Melaye said:
“What I’m telling you, in essence, is that we live in precarious times.
We live in times of visits to the vaccination.
We live in times when the devil determines the next menu for his children.
And what we’re seeing, if not checked, my brother…”
Now aligned with the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Melaye described the party as a moral movement for Nigerians seeking real change.
“Why Nigerians should think differently is that, once there’s an altar call in the church of God, only those who are emotionally touched, only those with a conscience, only those ready to leave darkness and move to light respond.
So, ADC is an altar call.
It’s a national altar call.
And those of us who have conscience, those who believe in a new order, those who want to see a Nigeria where we can answer our grandchildren when they ask, ‘Grandpa, what did you do when Nigeria was getting bad?’ — we want to say we did A, B, C, and D.”
He added:
<span;>> “Not everyone in ADC is a saint.
But what I can tell you is that everyone who has moved into ADC is genuinely concerned about Nigeria,” Melaye said.
