A former Kogi lawmaker, Dino Melaye, has alleged that the Peoples Democratic Party is no longer functioning as an independent opposition but has instead been purchased by the ruling All Progressives Congress.
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 dates for when to have NWC from the villa,” he said.
The former lawmaker questioned the posture of PDP governors, alleging that they are not acting as opposition figures.
“Just look at the number of governors in PDP today. Are these governors acting like opposition governors? It’s a question I’m putting up to you.
“You know the role of an opposition and you know how powerful Nigerian governors are.
“Are they playing opposition role as governors and those who are remaining in PDP are holding forth for APC?” he asked.
He also took a swipe at former Niger State Governor, Babangida Aliyu, over comments he claimed undermined the opposition’s credibility.
“With due respect to my uncle Babangida Aliyu, you heard him just two days ago saying that on her eyes he said if we can tolerate Buhari for eight years then we should tolerate uh for another four years.
“Is that the voice of an opposition person? Is that a statement coming from somebody who is not a member of APC?” he said.
Describing the political moment 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 are seeing if not abated my brother.”
Melaye, who is now aligned with the African Democratic Congress, described the party as a moral movement for Nigerians seeking change.
“Why Nigerians should think differently is that once there’s an altar call in the church of God, only those who are emotionally affected, only those who have conscience, only those who are ready to leave darkness and move to light, respond to altar calls. So ADC is an altar call.
“It’s a national altar call. And those of us who have conscience, those of us who believe in a new order, those of us who want to see a Nigeria where we will be able to answer questions from our grandchildren, who will ask us in the next, maybe when we are 90 and toothless, that when Nigeria was getting bad, Grandpa, what did you do? We want to be able to say we did A, B, C, and D.
“Not everybody in ADC, understand, is a saint.
“But what I’m telling you is that everybody who moved into ADC is concerned about Nigeria,” Melaye said.
