Daniel Atori
A former Chieftain of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in Niger state Hon. Jonathan Vatsa has said that the ruling party cannot win the 2027 general elections at all levels without rigging.
It should be noted that Vatsa was the pioneer Publicity Secretary of the Party and later appointed to serve in various capacities.
Vatsa who only last week resigned from the party after 13 years, also claimed the party has lost in the affairs of honour and has betrayed the trust and confidence of the Nigerian people.
While addressing Journalists in Minna on Tuesday on why he quit the party, the former Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism and former Chieftain pointed out that the current APC administration in the country is worst than the military regime.
According to him “since 2015, the APC administration has not broken new grounds in any positive way; the maladministration of the APC government has reached historical unprecedented height, far above and beyond the vices and challenges which made Nigerians voted the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) out in 2015.
“The party has brazenly turned itself into a sanctuary for corruption and a machine for rigging, and the rape of democracy. APC today is worst than the military regime.
“Everything that we accused the PDP of doing have tripled in the last twelve years of APC, and the situation is not getting better.
“The entire system in the country is 100 percent worst than we met it in 2015, yet what Nigerians hear everyday is blaming the past administration for the current hardship”.
Vatsa who served as Special Adviser, Media and Communication under the current administration led by Governor Umaru Bago claimed that while he was in the party, all attempts by people like him to draw the attention of the APC led government to fulfil its electoral promises to the people through various press statements have proved abortive.
Accordingly, he said “as a pioneer member of the APC, I cannot look boldly in the face of those who voted for the party in 2015 and point to any meaningful project initiated by the in the state and the country at large.
“The situation is now at alarming proportion with nothing to show for the enormous resources at its disposal.”
Vatsa who said he did not regret being a member of the APC since its formation 13 years ago, insisted that the administration has lost direction and the confidence of the Nigerian masses such that the leadership is now recruiting political liabilities, the same people the party accused of destroying the country, to come and help them win election in 2027.
“Today, it is only about 10 percent of the founding members of the party that are in the government, and holding key positions, the rest are the same PDP elements that we claimed destroyed the country.
“This is how visionless and clueless this APC administration has become at all levels, rather than admitting its failures, the administration has continued to blame past government for their woos”, he lambasted.
Vatsa maintained further that the attitudes of political leaders in the country today clearly shows that there is no morality in politics, pointing out that “some of us have morals and integrity to protect. That is why I decided to call it a day with APC because of the saying that the water you cannot drink, you do not wash your face with it”.
However, using Niger state as a case study, the former commissioner expressed worries that despite the huge allocations from the federation account, and the unpayable loans incurred by the APC administration, uncompleted or rather abandoned projects are now the common sights everywhere in the state.
“The slogan; “New Niger” is nothing but a deceit, a sharp contrast to the realities on ground in the state today. The media propaganda called agriculture revolution which gave birth to Niger food, and which we were told was to ensure food security in the state has turned to conduit pipes.
“Billions of Naira have gone down the drain but no single grain has been harvested in the last three years plus. It is a monumental fraud”, he submitted.
