Former Members of the Peoples Democratic party, PDP, who defected to the All Progressive Congress, APC, have become liabilities to the President Mohammadu Buhari’s led administration, Ms. Lauretta Onochie, personal Assistant, Social Media to the president has said.
She spoke in Abuja at the 2nd Annual International Conference of the Progressive Solidarity Forum (PSF).
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Senate president Bukola Saraki, Rotimi Amaechi, Rabiu Kwamkwaso and George Akume had led a long list of PDP members to the APC towards the 2015 general elections.
Onochie said the defectors constituted over 50 per cent in the present administration and could be found in almost every sector.
According to her, these defectors were a bad influence to youths in the country, who she said, had been turned into organs of transmitting hate speech and raining abusive words and insults on the policies of government to discredit its work against corruption.
“People would say, how do I cope with all the abuses, curses and excitement of the social media. Many of our youths do not understand what they are doing, they have never known freedom; so we raise young people who are ignorant, who are timid and afraid of challenges and when their rights are trampled on, they are afraid of challenging it.
“
That brings me to those in this government who are here to serve themselves, those that Colonel Hameed Ali, the Comptroller General of Customs, called PDP. He said that there are about 50 per cent of them in this government, but I say no they are more than 50 per cent.
“They are everywhere; they are in the presidency, they are in the National Assembly, you can find them in the judiciary, they are in the law enforcement agencies, they serve their personal interests, they encourage our unsuspecting youths to be their foot soldiers on the social media to abuse and curse people while their own children are sipping tea in America, in England or elsewhere. They are a bad example to our youngsters on social media,” Onochie said.
She also urged Nigerians to join hands with President Buhari to win the war against corruption and indiscipline.
“Laws are meant to follow the smell of crime; if crimes are being committed and these laws are not following them, then it means that somebody is not doing their job. Those who are in charge of enforcing the laws, many of them are not doing their jobs.
“The Inspector General of Police is just one man, just as President Buhari is just one man. The onus lies on each and every one of us to come together to challenge corruption where we find it. We need to say no to corruption and indiscipline.
“Corruption is everywhere, it stinks and unless we all begin to fight it and join the president to fight it, corruption will kill this nation,” she added.
In his opening remarks, the Grand Patron of PSF, Dr. Ibrahim Emokpaire, said the essence of the conference was to ensure that the institutions saddled with the responsibility of sustaining the anti-corruption crusade lived beyond the existence of the Buhari-led government.
