Oyegun congratulates Secondus, preaches tolerance

The National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, has urged the opposition Peoples Democratic Party to be constructive in its criticism of government.

Odigie-Oyegun, who congratulated the newly elected officials of the PDP, also said the APC-led administration welcomed constructive criticisms, saying they were essential for the growth of democracy.

The APC chairman said this in a statement he signed in Abuja, on Tuesday.

It came barely 48 hours after the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, and his counterpart in the PDP, Mr. Kola Ologbodiyan, engaged in a war of words over the conduct of the PDP national convention.

Abdullahi had in a statement derided the opposition PDP for failing to conduct a credible exercise, claiming that it was obvious that the PDP was unwilling to change its ways for the better.

In response, Ologbodiyan accused the APC of lacking the moral right to cast aspersions on the PDP because it failed to respect its own rules by failing to conduct a convention for close to three years.

Odigie-Oyegun in his statement on Tuesday said, “On behalf of our great party, the All Progressives Congress, I congratulate the new National Chairman of the PDP, Prince Uche Secondus, on his election at the PDP’s recent national convention.

“I also congratulate other newly-elected PDP national officials. It is my hope that the newly-elected PDP national chairman will use his experience garnered over the years to ensure that the PDP assumes its role as a responsible opposition party in the country.

“Our party wholeheartedly welcomes opposition because we believe that democracy cannot thrive without a vibrant but responsible opposition that puts the nation first.  This will often challenge you to balance partisan interests with overall national considerations.”

Odigie-Oyegun also assured his counterpart in the PDP of his willingness to engage “robustly in an atmosphere devoid of acrimony and rancour.”

He expressed confidence that working together, they would both elevate the language and temper of politics in the country, thereby providing the enabling environment for democracy to thrive in the country.