Romanus Ugwu, Abuja; Chinelo Obogo; Chukwudi Nweje

Kudos and knocks have trailed the apology. Some commended the party for toeing the path of honour and others including the APC and the United Progressives Party (UPP) were harsh in their attacks.

While the National Publicity Secretary of APC, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, expressed happiness that PDP has admitted putting the country in a mess, he said the only way to prove to Nigerians that they have truly repented from their sins is to stay out of power for a long time.

“Our response to this (apology) is that since PDP has realised and accepted that they are sinners and that their crimes of the years brought Nigeria to this sordid state we found ourselves today, we are glad with the admittance.

“It is good that they have finally accepted but now that they are willing to atone for their sins, they must have to spend sufficient time in the trajectory to show that they are truly repentant. Again, they have to wait for Nigerians to forgive them before they can even begin to dream of coming back to power.

“All these desperate campaign from PDP did not show that they have truly repented. If they really want Nigerians to forgive them, they have to be remorseful and demonstrate that they are sober.

“They have to show that remorse by staying away from power because as it is now, we cannot even trust them with power since they have not shown much sincerity. They have not shown enough remorse for Nigerians to consider forgiving them,” he said.

Chekwas Okorie, national chairman of UPP, believed it was too late for the PDP to ask for forgiveness from Nigerians or plan a comeback.

According to him, Nigerians had no choice when it voted the PDP out because “to allow the party to continue in power would have been disastrous.”

He said while the PDP is bad news,  the APC is not only poisonous, but have also  turned out to be worse than its predecessor.

“I would just ask Nigerians to listen to Oby Ezekwesili; I think she is the one that is seeing correctly. She is leading the right crusade with her red-card movement where the PDP and the APC are being shown the red card and told not to come back.

“ It was a disaster to have voted Buhari in, but at the time that he came in, Nigerians had no choice, they had very little options because to allow the PDP to continue in office would have been disastrous. I believe that if we had not voted them out, this country would have gone under. Sixteen years of misrule and unprecedented corruption is not something that any sensible person would want to return to. It is wishful thinking on the part of the PDP to think that Nigerians are so gullible and so forgetful as to return them to power shortly after they messed the lives of everybody up.

“Nigerians should look for more credible options instead of putting power in the hands of one party that immediately becomes dictatorial upon assumption of office and rode roughshod over citizens. That was what we suffered in the hands of the PDP for 16 years and that suffering has continued in the APC. From the time the APC was formed, I was one of those that said that there was no difference between the APC and the PDP. I said that both were like kettle and pot, and none should call the other black because they were two sides of the same coin. So, PDP should not be thinking about coming back to power. PDP is bad news and APC is poisonous,” Okorie said.

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But the Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) applauded Prince Secondus for not only initiating the party’s dialogue with the people but also for being humble enough to apologise to the people of Nigeria for the mistakes of the past.

In a statement signed by its Secretary General, Chief Willy Ezugwu, the umbrella group of all the registered political parties and political associations noted that the PDP as a member of the CNPP has shown maturity worthy of emulation.

“The National chairman of the PDP in his characteristic and sincere leadership style has led his party in an open confession of their sins and the party is entitled to be forgiven by Nigerians if we are sincere people.

“With the confession and pledge of its readiness to learn from its past mistakes arising from what the party failed to do, the PDP leader has rekindled hope in the ability of opposition political parties to provide alternative political platforms to better the lives of the now impoverished Nigerians, who are suffering due poor leadership.

“We, therefore, urge Nigerians never to lose hope in the future we all desire for the country as together we shall all build a country we shall be proud of”, the CNPP said.

But the Executive Chairman, Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership (CACOL), Debo Adeniran, dismissed the apology as a desperate attempt to redeem its image.

He said the PDP, which spent 16 years in power, during which it failed to deliver dividends of democracy to Nigerians cannot say it was undergoing an evolution process in all those years.

“The apology by the PDP is just a way to misdirect Nigerians and gain sympathy, especially as the 2019 general elections are approaching.

The PDP cannot even manage its internal affairs so how can they be talking about managing Nigeria? After being in power for several years during which they did not meet the expectations of Nigerians, they cannot be talking about another chance in 2019,” Adeniran said.

Similarly, the Lagos State chapter of APC dismissed  the apology as “medicine after death from an unrepentant party.”

According to its publicity secretary, if the PDP is serious about apologising to Nigerians they should start by returning all the money allegedly looted from the public coffers in the 16 years they were in power.

“For a start, all the money stolen should be returned. It is not that the offender cannot be forgiven, but has the offender repented?” he asked rhetorically.