ABUJA (Sundiata Post) – A frontline politician and businessman, Mr Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim, has said that Nigeria needs a new ideological party that could bring take the country out of the current socio-economic predicament and political challenges.
He said a great future lies ahead of the country only if the citizenry could work together to vote a new party of ideas and reject the old political platforms namely the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) so as to make democracy meaningful in the country.
The former member of the National Working Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who has since delved into the business world and currently chairs Bresson AS, a group of companies, said this recently in Abuja during a media parley with journalists.
Continuing, Olawepo-Hashim said that Nigerians must not continue to allow people sneak into power as there is is a need to change the discussion by steering the polity in a new direction.
Lamenting further on the state of the nation, he said it is pitiable that Nigeria went into recession 9 months into Buhari’s administration which did not occur due to fall in oil price but largely because remittances disappeared under President Buhari.
According to him: “They bankrupted the economy and this is the danger of making an election a referendum. Nigeria made some gains between 1999 and 2015. Such gains were almost completely wiped off by 2015 July-2016 when the nation’s economy started contracting leading to her worst economic recession in 25 years -2.4 per cent.”
“Nigerians should have the opportunity for a new start, to refocus on critical issues that will develop the country. It is a shame that miscreants are causing confusion in this nation. They started making ndecision for this nation in their early 20s. This is a shame for our generarion. We must not still be sitting down to analyse how they are going to provide leadership or continue in office. These are people who ordinarily are managing to run political offices with secondary school certificates.
“It is a generational responsibility. We should all be challenged that we are where we are today but need to move forward”, he added.
Olawepo insisted that the crisis of Nigeria’s underdevelopment can only be confronted with a bold agenda and plans aimed at changing the present economy structure of dependence which must be revolutionary massive.
Emphasising further on why Nigerians need to vote for a new party that can take the country to the enviable height, Olawepo quipped that “PDP has changed from the one that used to exist and does not have the power of incumbency.
“The party’s leaders are demoralised because they lack ideas. Its internal processes are unpredictable and unknown. There is no order.”
He added that “the APC is a party in complete chaos at the moment and the two parties; PDP and APC have no message for Nigerians. APC is not a party. It was justj formed to oust President Jonathan from power.”
