The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said it does not regret apologising to Nigerians over its past mistakes during the sixteen years it held sway as the country’s ruling party.
The party in a statement on Tuesday by its spokesperson, Kola Ologbodiyan, said as a responsible party committed to the good of Nigerians, having learnt its lessons, it saw it as necessary to make the move.
Recall that the chairman of the party, Uche Secondus, had Monday apologised to Nigerians for the mistakes it made while in power.
The party has, however, criticised the reactions of the federal government and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to the apology.
Recall that the APC in a statement on Tuesday said the PDP will have to do more for Nigerians to forgive its misrule of 16 years, saying an apology is not enough.
The APC also called on the PDP to confess what it referred to as its sins.
The federal government also in a statement by Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, said the PDP will have to return the funds it looted for it to be forgiven.
Commenting on the reactions, the PDP said it was deeply sad that people were suffering because of the party it voted for in its place, saying the APC has wrecked the economy and inflicted on Nigerians hunger, starvation and daily bloodletting.
The party claimed Nigerians are now looking up to its “repositioned and rebranded platform” to pull the country from the brinks and return it to the path of true democracy, national cohesion and economic prosperity, which it said were the hallmarks of PDP’s 16 years in government.
Admitting it made mistakes in its internal administration prior to the 2015 general elections, the opposition party said its new leadership had already smoothened the rough edges to ensure strict adherence to internal democracy and good governance in all processes.
“Our apology to Nigerians is the pathway to national healing, renewal of hope and remobilisation of the citizenry for the task of rescuing the nation from the current pathetic situation and the painful misrule of the All Progressives Congress (APC),” the party said.
“Our apology is to ask Nigerians, once again, to put their trust in the rebranded PDP, particularly, as our party is the only platform that is committed to the national agenda of peace, unity, justice and prosperous nation.”
