The Presidency has declared that the apology tendered by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is dishonest and urged Nigerians to hold it with a pinch of salt. In a statement issued on Friday by Mr. Garba Shehu, a presidential spokesman, the Presidency described as apt the response of Information Minister, Mr. Lai Mohammed, to the apology issued on behalf of the PDP by Mr. Uche Secondus, its National Chairman, that there are heavy moral duties that go with apologies if the culprits want to be taken seriously.
"The PDP is desperate to recapture power because it no longer has unhindered access to national resources for private uses and its apology should be seen in this context.
"The PDP has not even acknowledged the fact that it plundered the national economy and for a party that dismissed the anti-corruption war as a political witch-hunt, it is impossible to believe that its public apology comes from the bottom of the heart," said the Presidency.
It stated that even desperate thieves apologize when caught, but not because they feel remorse that would inhibit them from repeating the crime if presented with a chance.
"We believe that the PDP should not only apologize for the imposition of candidates and culture of impunity but must also come clean and acknowledge that they participated in large-scale corruption and massive diversions of public funds to private pockets while poverty was ravaging the ordinary Nigerians," stated the Presidency.
It called on individual PDP leaders to publicly and voluntarily disclose how much they stole and return the stolen funds for their apology to be taken seriously.
Without disclosure of how much was stolen and promise to restitute, said the Presidency, PDP's apology is morally hollow.
"For such apology to gain acceptance, the offenders must first of all show remorse, then return that which was unlawfully taken or restore the damage caused the nation; and commit to never doing the wrong they did again. The PDP has done none of these for them to be taken seriously by anyone.
"Instead of addressing this cogent issue raised by the Minister, the PDP veered off to accuse this administration of borrowing money but failed, in that regard, to admit that they borrowed to steal while Buhari administration is borrowing to set up long-delayed infrastructure," stated the Presidency.
It noted that the opposition accused President Muhammadu Buhari of inflaming ethnic and religious tensions, saying that the President never fails in his duty as the chief security officer of the country.
"He acts fast whenever and wherever there are incidents by ordering law-enforcement agencies to do their job and fact-finding mission to give him actionable reports.
"PDP’s uncaring attitude to these matters, including the kidnapping of 270 girls from Chibok is the hallmark of the long years of misrule," the statement added.
It identified as another issue of moral and political significance the recent disclosure by US investigators that the PDP government engaged in massive data theft, through Cambridge Analytica. This, explained the Presidency, including the hacking of President Buhari's personal data before the last general elections. The Presidency observed that the PDP has remained silent on this disclosure, a confirmation of its remorselessness.