The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) clashed yesterday over alleged plans to disrupt the 2023 general elections.
The PDP National Publicity Secretary, Hon. Debo Ologunagba, told newsmen in Abuja, that the APC and its presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, were behind plots to disrupt the elections.
The opposition party also alleged that the APC had introduced a “very disturbing dimension of purchasing PVCs from unsuspecting Nigerians” through monetary inducement masquerading as empowerment programmes.
The PDP said, “We have called you today to, through you, alert Nigerians and the international community of plots by enemies of democracy to frustrate and ultimately disrupt the conduct of the 2023 general elections.
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“We alert Nigerians that in compliance with the directive by the presidential candidate of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to his party members to deploy violence and snatch power in the 2023 general elections, the APC having realised that it has been rejected, has commenced its violent attacks to frustrate the conduct of the elections.
“Nigerians can recall how the deflated and desperate Asiwaju Tinubu, in a closed-door meeting in London earlier this month, declared to his members that ‘political power is not going to be served in a restaurant, it is not served a la carte. It is what we are doing; It is being determined; you do it at all cost; fight for it, grab it, snatch it and run with it.’
“In response to this directive, APC leaders and members have now activated plots to derail the electoral process through orchestrated violent attacks in various states of the country aimed to trigger a nationwide security emergency situation, instil fear, and make it appear unconducive to conduct elections in the country.
“Part of the plot is the current attacks on the facilities of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in various parts of the country as witnessed in Ogun, Osun and Imo states where sections critical to the conduct of elections particularly those connected to the collection of Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) were targeted and destroyed.”
Security agencies should probe PDP leaders – APC
But the Director of Public Affairs and chief spokesman, Tinubu/Shettima Presidential Campaign Council and Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo (SAN), in a swift reaction, asked law enforcement agencies to invite PDP leaders for questioning.
Keyamo, who said the allegations were infantile and baseless, also asked the PDP to apologise to Nigerians for alleged acts of election rigging, money laundering and other electoral malpractices it allegedly perpetrated in the past.
Part of the statement reads: “We note with concern the incoherent and convoluted press statement issued today by the ethically-challenged PDP, yet again raising alarm about certain plots to incite violence and derail the 2023 polls and having ‘credible information’ as to those unleashing violence in certain parts of the country.
“We, therefore, call on law enforcement agencies to, as a matter of urgency, invite the PDP leaders for immediate questioning.
“The PDP should realise that an electioneering process is very serious business and not a time to issue baseless and infantile statements out of want of something to say to the Nigerian people. The Nigerian people have since grown weary of the antics of the PDP.
“We suspect that the latest alarm by the PDP is one of a long list of diversionary measures adopted by the party to deflect attention from its crumbling edifice.
“We also said before and we repeat it here that Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is a thoroughbred democrat and one of the major architects of the democracy PDP and Nigerians enjoy today, so he should be the very last of the presidential candidates to be accused of undemocratic conduct or underhand dealings in the electoral process.
“The PDP should not joke or play politics with grave security matters. Having ‘credible information’ as to plots and individuals relating to the attack on INEC offices currently, further plots to disrupt elections is, indeed, a matter of national security.”
Opposition playing catch-up with APC campaigns – Buhari
President Muhammadu Buhari has said the All Progressives Congress (APC) campaigns have so far been the most aggressive in recent history compared “to the opposition that seems to be playing catch-up.”
“They have been impressive and of a high voltage,” he said in a statement issued yesterday by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu.
The president again expressed optimism that the party would win all the elections fairly and squarely.
President Buhari assured the APC and its candidates in the elections next year that he was ready at all times to campaign for them, including the presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, with “full energy and conviction.”
Shehu said this was to dispel expressed concerns in certain quarters that the president had not featured in campaigns since the national launch in Jos, Plateau State, and to stress that while he remained committed to party politics, the functions and duties of the president would equally be upheld at times.
President Buhari, while speaking to the Nigerian community in Washington DC, in the course of his recent visit to the United States, had stressed what he said all the time that he was ready to campaign for the party’s victory in the general elections next year.
By Muideen Olaniyi, Saawua Terzungwe & Baba Martins
