Saraki Urges Nigerians To Reject Leadership By Selection, Ethnic Divide In New Year

Former Governor of Kwara State, Dr. Bukola Saraki at the end of 2013, formally declared his membership of the All Progressives Congress, APC. He was one of the aggrieved Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members, who formed the now defunct new PDP (nPDP) which dissolved into the opposition party.

He also invited his followers to join him in his new party.

Saraki, now senator representing Kwara Central in the upper chamber of the National Assembly, made his formal declaration via a goodwill message he personally sent to Nigerians on the New Year celebration on Wednesday (today).

In the message where he congratulated Nigerians for the dawn of a New Year preceding the 2015 general election, Saraki urged them to reflect on the consequences of the retrogressive and repressive policies of the PDP government in 2013 by joining him and others, who had abandoned the party for the APC in the actualization of new hope for the country.

The message read in part: “Today, the consequences of the retrogressive and repressive policies of this PDP government by commission or omission has inadvertently, created a broader space for the emergence of an effective opposition – a key ingredient of a vibrant democracy.

“A pointer to this is the conditions that have led to the near tsunami-like exodus from PDP to APC.

“I have always believed that our democracy must be built on a party politics of inclusiveness, politics that is embraced by all Nigerians – not some Nigerians. For some of us, it is non-negotiable that our politics must be one based on the rule of law, morality, the principles of public trust and fairness, and most importantly delivering policies that transform the lives of the people we serve.

“For most of us, it was no longer viable to expect the barest minimum for the people of Nigeria under the PDP. It became inexplicable to promote democracy within a party where these principles and issues must be entrenched, hence, the resolve of the tectonic shift in our political base.

“This is the premise on which some of us in 2013 left PDP and have since joined APC. This decision though hard was made inevitable by what we saw as the irreconcilable division in the PDP – a party that lacked any semblance of internal democracy; a party that acted with impunity; a party that did not deliver for the people and the country; and a party that threatened to return our country to authoritarianism.

“Our decision to leave was one borne out of the desire to say no to military democracy and say yes to representative democracy”, he asserted.

The former governor in the message noted that with him and other concerned Nigerians defecting to APC, the dream of an effective opposition has been born in the country, heralding the hope of a new dawn on the Nigeria political terrain where the wealth of the Nation would be shared equitably among all Nigerians.

“As a result I believe the dream of an effective opposition has now been born and the hope of a new dawn of a better, fairer, and more prosperous Nigeria where the wealth of our nation is shared equitably with and for all now has the potential to become a reality.

“My hope is that we will have a vibrant opposition party capable of keeping the party in government accountable on behalf of the people of Nigeria.

“This I believe is the yearning of every well-meaning Nigerian; and I join them in the belief that Nigeria will be better in 2014 and beyond.

“However, I am also convinced that change will only happen if we collectively say no to leadership by selection, leadership by ethnic divide, authority by clannish identity and religious divide. This is what we must stand for. This must be the foundation on which a strong vibrant and fair democratic Nigeria can be realized”, Saraki said.