BEING TEXT OF PRESS CONFERENCE BY YPP ACCOUNTABILITY AMBASSADORS ON SATURDAY, 3RD DECEMBER 2022 AT UYO, AKWA IBOM STATE
Ladies and Gentlemen,
- We the members of Young Progressives Party Accountability Ambassadors (YPPAA) have observed with displeasure the manner in which the name of our party has been put to disrepute and ridicule by those who ordinarily ought not to have been associated with the party.
- The trending headlines of the past few days following the conviction of Sen. Bassey Albert by the Federal High Court sitting at Uyo have projected our party in a negative light. Moreso is the attempt in some quarters to paint the party as being sympathetic to a judicially established official corruption.
- For the avoidance of doubt and to safeguard the minds of the public from being polluted with the impression that YPP condones corruption, we wish to categorically distance ourselves from the corrupt act and the culminating conviction. YPP is a party with lofty moral ideals usually absent in other political parties.
- Our party is known for due process, accountability and integrity. These virtues are copiously given pre-eminence even in the constitution of the party. As a party with ideology aimed at effective governance, probity and accountability we eschew official corruption no matter the guise it takes. Ours is a young party with a progressive philosophy that sets the standard in political morality in Nigeria.
- It is therefore very sad that such a new party that is struggling to position itself as an exemplary touch bearer is associated with a criminal conviction on corruption charges. We implore the public to dissociate YPP from that conviction and see it instead as a conviction of a PDP senator or a former commissioner for finance.
- We base our reason on the verifiable facts that the charges were preferred prior to the convict joining YPP. The criminal trial was concluded in May 2022 while the convict joined the party in July 2022. The events leading to the facts giving rise to the corruption charges did not take place in YPP.
- Those things do not represent our party. It is the vision of our party to build an egalitarian society driven by mentally progressive and young innovative leaders devoid of greed. The party is aiming to establish a free and democratic society in which the powers and actions of government are lawful and where those in authority are held accountable to the people.
- Even though the person in question later purportedly secured a YPP gubernatorial ticket under suspicious circumstances, which is still a subject of an ongoing litigation, we reject the attempt to smear our party with the mire of corruption. We disown everything relating to that conviction as they do not represent the virtues propagated by YPP as a party and us as a group within the party. We will not be blackmailed into pampering corruption in the name of party solidarity.
- We believe that despite any temporary setback that appears to derail the party from its good plans for Akwa Ibom people, our party will bounce back stronger with a more credible and capable candidate to secure victory for us in the coming elections.
- May we use this opportunity to reiterate our commitment to the ideals of the party even though we frown upon the attempt by some persons to taint the image of YPP with corruption. We also wish to express our unflinching support for the party and its candidates in the forthcoming general elections, particularly our presidential candidate, Prince Malik Ado-Ibrahim who has an agenda to reset Nigeria and make it work for the good of all.
Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria
Long live Akwa Ibom State
Long live Young Progressives Party
YPP – Service to the people!
Signed
Comrade Itohowo Umoh
Chairman YPPAA
Comrade Angela Edoh
Secretary YPPAA