The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kaduna State has accused the opposition of pursuing a ‘very dangerous agenda’ aimed at distracting the government from its focus toward a peaceful and prosperous society.
The party’s state secretary, Mr. Ibrahim Mukaddas, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Jos yesterday that the PDP had stoically endured the harsh attacks over time, but could no longer ignore such “brazen lies, half truths and negative propaganda’’.
“The PDP government welcomes constructive criticism to help it to do a better job, but what we have in Kaduna is an opposition which believes its selfish political interests will be most served by making government lose focus just to prove claims that we are incompetent.
“They do not see anything good in whatever we do; sometimes, they try to incite the public against government.
Other times, they pit one segment of the population against the other. This crude tactics is dangerous.’’
Citing instances, Mukaddas recalled that the opposition recently launched a bitter attack against the government over the workers strike to press for the payment of the N18,000 minimum wage, using “barely concealed lies’’.
“They kept telling the workers that the non implementation of the minimum wage smacked of sheer incompetence and failure but failed to acknowledge that the issue, which has happily been resolved now, was a national problem.’’
He also accused the opposition of inciting members of the people against the government by promoting the propaganda that the support to the Muslim faithful during the fasting was just a “fraudulent ploy to steal funds’’. (NAN)
“The scheme was applauded by the poor and rich alike; in fact, many other states also undertook that. But the opposition in Kaduna kept manufacturing colossal figures they claimed were being siphoned on daily basis.’’
Mukaddas also said the opposition had consistently accused government of neglecting victims of post-violence, and explained that nothing could be farther from the truth as government had committed a lot to their feeding, shelter and other needs.
“The fact is, government has consistently done its best for the people within its limited resources; government has also challenged individuals and corporate bodies to assist and we are happy that the Dangote group heeded Governor Patrick Yakowa’s call to assist the victims.
“It is quite unfortunate that politicians should seek to make political capital out of the misfortune of the innocent persons hit by the unfortunate political violence,’’ he fumed.
Mukaddas also expressed surprise that government’s subsidy to Muslims performing the annual Hajj exercise had come under severe attack from the opponents, and wondered why anyone would fault such sincere action. (NAN)