While still smarting from the defeat, Governor Babangida Aliyu of Niger State has blamed the refusal of President Goodluck Jonathan to honour the single-term pact he reached with the People Democratic Party prior to 2011 for the horrible defeat suffered in the hands of the opposition.
Aliyu , in addition to the wholesome defeat of the party’s Presidential candidate, also lost his bid for a Senate seat.
He said some members of the party, including himself, saw the defeat coming and as such, it was not a surprise that it happened.
Speaking as a Special Guest of Honour at the convocation lecture of Federal University of Technology, Minna, Niger State, said the what the PDP experienced at the governorship election was as a result of the bandwagon effect effect of the defeat at the presidential election.
He said, “Many of us saw it coming. When I reminded us that we had an agreement for one term, they nearly crucified me.
“When I led the G7, they did not do what we wanted them to do until five members left and they did what we asked them to do.
“Many of us saw the defeat coming. Even when I told some of us that we had a one-term agreement, they nearly crucified me. Now, sir, you have seen the results.”
Aliyu, who spoke as if he was addressing Prof. Ahmed Alkali, Political Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan and Chairman of the institution’s Governing Council, who was present, said that the coming of APC was good in order to achieve some balance in the political equation and provide a strong check to the actions and inactions of the government in power.
“I recall also that when APC came on board,” he said, “I was the first person to say I was very happy that now we have a strong party to put PDP on its toes and many people were asking me that, are you really a member? Up to the last election, my accusation has always been that I was a supporter of APC and now you have seen the result”.
According to him, Nigerians wanted something different from what they had in the past 16 years, adding, “Nigerians wanted a change and Nigerians got the change. You will have many reasons; one, PDP has been around for 16 years and there is no way you will be around for 16 years and you will not make mistakes; so there are many reasons that will be put together and we will be able to understand and guide people as to next time, these are some of the things you need to do.”
On the state of corruption in Nigeria, Aliyu Fualted the impression that that it was not only government officials that were corrupt.
crruption itself he said started from the home.
He argued that a junior civil servant with two wives and over twenty children also breed corruption because there was no way his salary could take care of those children. In his remarks, the chairman of the Governing Council Prof. Ahmed Alkali said “Nigeria is at a crossroad in his fight against corruption because every Nigerian is corrupt in one way or the other. “If Nigeria must fight corruption, we must all check ourselves to ensure that at all levels we kill corruption. Anything we do in excess is corruption”.
Aliyu appealed to Nigerians to eschew corruption and other tendencies that could destroy the country’s economy.
Alkali agreed that Nigeria was at a crossroads especially because of the 2015 general election.
He also said if Nigeria must fight corruption, the country’s citizens must be ready to check themselves at all times and in all places.
