The All Progressives Congress on Sunday said that a survey it commissioned revealed that 59 per cent of Nigerians thought that President Goodluck Jonathan was doing a bad job in the corruption war.
This was contained in a statement signed by its Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, on Sunday.
According to the party, the survey, which also sought the view of Nigerians on issues of governance, found that most Nigerians would vote for an APC candidate instead of Jonathan, if elections were to hold now.
The party noted that its findings clearly showed that most Nigerians agreed that the nation was going in the wrong direction.
The statement partly reads, ‘’The results were even more revealing than the APC had anticipated: When asked, ‘If the election were held today, would you vote for Goodluck Jonathan or the candidate of the All Progressives Congress’, the APC candidate held a 10-point lead over the President. By a margin of 44 per cent to 34 per cent (with 22 per cent undecided), the APC candidate was the clear national choice.”
According to the APC, the survey also shows that most Nigerians want the President to focus on job creation.
“When asked if Jonathan was doing a good or bad job fighting corruption, 59 per cent Nigerians thought Jonathan was doing a bad job fighting corruption,” it said.
In order to address most of the nation’s problems, which revolve around job creation, growing insecurity and the war against corruption, the APC said it would unveil its “roadmap to a New Nigeria” at its national summit in Abuja on Thursday.
But faulting the survey, the Presidency described it as “a vodoo exercise and a great exercise in quackery” that must be discarded by discerning members of the public.
Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, made the Presidency’s position known in an interview with State House correspondents.
Abati said since the APC was not licensed as a polling agency, what the party did was “to abandon its core business of politics to dabble into polling which it has neither the expertise and the exposure nor the track record to do, thereby churning out a dubious report.
He said, “I have read a statement issued by Alhaji Lai Muhammed with regards to the plan by the APC to unveil its manifesto on Thursday.
“While we share the view that the APC has the view to unveil its manifesto because nobody really knows what the party stands for and Nigerians are curious to have a properly articulated position of the APC rather than its inarticulate engagement with the Nigerian public but the basis on which the APC is trying to unveil the manifesto is dubious and suspicious.
“The APC is, according to Muhammed, presenting its poll on the basis of certain survey that it conducted which shows the administration in a bad light.
“I have read the details of the poll purportedly conducted by the APC. To start with, polling in any category at all is a very serious business. It is not something that any roadside adventurer can engage in.
“What the APC has done is that, it has abandoned its core business of politics to dabble into polling, and what it has come up with is a voodoo exercise. The result of the polls purportedly conducted by the APC is nothing but a great exercise in quackery.
“APC is not licensed to be a polling agency, it has neither the expertise and the exposure nor the track record. It is not surprising that the outcome of its so-called polling is dubious.”
Abati faulted APC’s claim that its candidate would win the presidential election at the expense of Jonathan.
He said it was surprising that the party that had not announced its candidate was already claiming victory.
Abati also carpeted the APC on its claim that Jonathan had not created jobs.
He described the claim as a gross display of “self-imposed ignorance” and height of dishonesty.
He said, “They also came up with a claim that President Jonathan has done nothing to create jobs. This is nothing but a gross display of ignorance. The ignorance is self-imposed because the administration has done more than enough and will continue to do a lot to demonstrate how it has been creating jobs.
“In fact, job and wealth creation are two cardinal objectives and targets and achievements of this administration.
“For the APC to pretend in their voodoo polling that they are not aware of that is the height of dishonesty and their statement should be disregarded.
“There is nothing in this voodoo polling that Lai Muhammed has not said before. So, any discerning reader of the statement will see very clearly that this is just clearly partisan politicking. The kind of politics that is played without being clever about it. It is crude, unintelligent and the vodoo nature of it and the quackery that surrounds it make it more meaningless.”
Copyright PUNCH.
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