The Lagos State chapter of the All Progressives Congress has lashed out at its Peoples Democratic Party counterpart for criticizing the list of commissioners sent to the House of Assembly.
In a statement by the Lagos APC Publicity Secretary, Joe Igbokwe, Tuesday, the party said the PDP had continued in its tradition of ridiculing and debasing itself before the public.
”This time the party and its serial losers have resorted once again to yet another bedtime stories of asking the Lagos State House of Assembly not to clear the nominated commissioners and special advisers because they are associates of our national leader,” Mr. Igbokwe said.
Governor Akinwunmi Ambode last week presented a list of would-be cabinet members in his administration to the House of Assembly for screening.
The list – containing 23 Commissioners and 13 Special Advisers – is made up of top technocrats, politicians, and strategists, according to Mr. Ambode.
But the PDP criticized the list, saying after the long wait for the governor to appoint his cabinet members, he went ahead to recycle persons who had done “very poorly’ in their previous responsibilities as commissioners, council chairmen.
“This list is so mediocre, self-serving, embarrassing, that it cannot justify the delay and waste of days,” said Taofik Gani, the Lagos PDP Publicity Secretary.
But in the party’s response on Tuesday, the APC insisted that the proposed list of cabinet members contained competent hands who “can hold their heads high anywhere in the world and answer their fathers names if the need arises”.
“They have climbed through the ladder of leadership from various departments in Lagos State to get to where they are today. They have been tested and therefore can be trusted to add values to Lagos State,” Mr. Igbokwe said.
The Lagos APC further stated that the people on the governor’s list were not pushovers in their respective profession, adding that they were capable of assisting Mr. Ambode to improve the fortunes of Lagos State.
“Our advice to Lagos PDP is to go home and wipe away the flood of tears they have suffered since 1999 in the hands of AD, AC, ACN, and now APC,” Mr. Igbokwe said.
“Instead of sulking and whining over spilled milk we are advising the party to return to the drawing board to find out where the rains started beating them.
“Instead of struggling to be in the news for the wrong reasons, the shameless party can go home to do some honest self-assessment and self re-examination.
“Instead of this childish penchant to continue to pollute the public space with their scurrilous drivel, this irredeemable party can for once tell itself some home truths that it is time to seek new ways of not playing politics with just anything under the sun.”