The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), now the opposition party in the country following the federal elections of April 28, has accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) of attempting to throw Nigeria into dictatorship and one-party rule.
At a press conference on Tuesday in Abuja by Chief Olisa Metuh, its National Publicity Secretary, the party announced that it was receiving reports reaching it from its leadership nationwide show that the APC has been desperately seeking ways to destabilize its ranks and weaken it by approaching some senior members of our National Executive Committee (NEC) with phantom promises and threats
The objective, it alleged, is to use such people to inject crisis into the PDP fold and pave way for its elected members to cross over to the APC.
“Furthermore, the PDP has it on good authority that part of this agenda of the APC is to intimidate and harass our members especially officials who served under our administration,” the statement said.
It promised that the party leadership under the Chairmanship of Ahmadu Adamu Mu’azu will not condone any witch-hunt of any of its elected or appointed officers who served with clean records.
“We will do everything humanly possible within the rules to defend democratic principles and ethics, which we have successfully nourished in the past 16 years,” Metuh said, charging members of the PDP to be vigilant and continue to work its leaders at all levels.
He said Nigerians should see Saturday’s governorship and state legislature elections as being a very important vehicle to checkmate the selfish agenda of the APC against the nation, noting that the PDP is fully prepared and will leave nothing to chance.
“We have fully activated our structures across the country and our members and supporters have been adequately rallied for the polls.
“With our array of credible and popular candidates, the watchword now is vigilance. We are now more than ever before determined that Nigerians get the best out of representative democracy by ensuring that Saturday’s elections are free, fair and credible and that all votes count. In spite of the threats and actual attacks, we will not allow our members and supporters to be intimidated.”
Metuh said that a foretaste of the destabilizing mission of the APC is evident in the avoidable political tension being created in Ekiti and Lagos States where, according to him, the APC is desperate to truncate the will of the people.
“The flimsy reasons being touted by the out-going lawmakers in Ekiti State who have since lost their electoral value is part of the APC agenda to seize power in the state through the back door.
“Also, the unfortunate outburst and death threats by the Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu, a supposedly apolitical royal father against non-indigenes should they vote for the PDP candidate is clearly part of the plot by the APC to use all means within its reach to intimidate and cow Nigerians to submission.”
Metuh said that by dragging a royal father into a partisan contest, the APC has further exposed its bigger heinous agenda to destroy our revered traditional institutions apparently to compromise and bring them under its control.
He said the onus was now on Oba Akiolu to prove to Nigerians, especially Lagosians that his actions did not fall short of expectation of the royal institution through which his ancestors fostered justice, unity and harmonious living, making Lagos the most cosmopolitan city in Africa.
Metuh called on Nigerians to recognize that the nation’s democracy is under threat, and that every citizen must stand up in defense of their common destiny as a nation. The PDP National Working Committee under the chairmanship of Alhaji Mu’azu, he said, is ever willing and ready to provide leadership in that regard.