PDP liberated North-East from Boko Haram, says Ekweremadu

Leke Baiyewu, Abuja

Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, has said the administration of the Peoples Democratic Party liberated the northeastern part of Nigeria from Boko Haram insurgency but the terrorists are now attacking the area under the All Progressives Congress-led government.

Ekweremadu, who spoke on Saturday in Abuja at the national convention of the PDP, scored the current administration low on security, economy, job creation and national unity.

He said, “Millions of our people who lost their jobs in the last two years and those who struggled through higher institutions of learning to receive education but could not find jobs in the last two years believe that when PDP returns, there will be hope for them.

“Our brothers and sisters from the North-East, who were liberated by the PDP government but who are now suffering under attacks and threats by Boko Haram, believe that they will be safe when PDP returns to power.

“Our people, who are struggling everyday to leave Nigeria to the so-called Eldorado in Europe but who either end up in the Mediterranean (Sea) or trapped in Libya and other places because of the hardships in Nigeria, believe that this convention will mark the beginning of the end of their problems, as they see hope for Nigeria in 2019.”

The Deputy Senate President described the 16 years of PDP administration as glorious years for the country, saying “good men and women who left PDP for the APC are eager to return to join us to build a better Nigeria.”

He said, “The PDP worked out Nigeria’s debt forgiveness and paid up our remaining debts but today, we are getting indebted more than any other time in the history of Nigeria. We groomed and bequeathed the fastest growing economy as well as the largest economy in Africa. The story is different today.”

Ekweremadu also maintained that the PDP years recorded job creation and improvement in agriculture and consequent low food prices. He said Nigerians now live under dire realities of insecurity, unemployment and hunger.

He decried the level of disunity in the country today unlike in the PDP years, which, he said, “showed Nigerians, in true sense of it, that we belong to everybody.”