APC govt has no clear economic policy – PDP Reps

Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, lawmakers in the House of Representatives, on Wednesday, lambasted the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led Federal Government of President Muhammadu Buhari, for plunging the country into economic disaster.

Minority Leader, Leo Ogor, who spoke at an interactive session with members of the United Kingdom, UK Westminster Foundation for Democracy, said that this was the first time the country is running a government without clear economic policies.

Ogor told the delegation, which visited Deputy Speaker, Slaimon Lasun, in his office that apart from frustrating the nation’s economy, the governing party was also clamping down on opposition to weaken it and run the country undemocratically.

“We have our own policies as opposition. For the first time, we are running a government without clear economic policies, but we are marking time with them”, Ogor stated.

However, the Deputy Speaker regretted that the contents of parties’ manifestos were often not transformed into an enduring government policies, which obviously was responsible for the noticeable failures, insisting that all the political parties in the country were guilty of this.

He said that the APC government was trying to do this by trying to identify and separate national programmes from party programmes to ensure continuity by any government that comes into power.

“We will develop policies in a manner that whoever is in government will pursue these policies. It is not the issue of APC or PDP, everybody is guilty of this and we are working towards a change”, Lasun stated.

The Senior Programme Manager, Africa, of the West Minister Foundation for Democracy, Majda El Bied, had sought to know how the PDP was faring in opposition, having just lost the general election, and the Minority Leader said the PDP had adapted even though it has its minor internal rumblings.

Ogor told the delegation that they’ve put a formidable team together to work well as opposition in this government.

Labour Representative, Scarlet MCc Gwire, who is Communications and Campaign Specialists and Consultant for the Labour Party, however harped on the need for the ruling party to allow a free and levelled playing field for opposition to thrive as opposition was the beauty of democracy.