The Peoples Democratic Party
(PDP) has accused President Muhammadu Buhari of planning to derail the
electoral process and throw the nation into political crisis.
The PDP was reacting to a
statement credited to the president’s threat to those planning to hijack ballot
boxes and disrupt the elections.
At a meeting of APC leaders in
Abuja on Monday, Buhari had said: “Anybody who decides to snatch ballot boxes
or lead thugs to disturb the election, maybe that would be the last unlawful
action he would take… I have directed the police and the military to be
ruthless.”
In a statement by Kola
Ologbondiyan, its spokesman, the PDP said Buhari resorted to threat having
realised that he would lose the election.
“President Muhammadu Buhari’s
threat to the lives of Nigerians at the opening of APC’s national caucus
meeting in Abuja today is a direct call for jungle justice and attempt to
divert public attention from their closed session where details of their
dastardly plot to truncate our democratic process will be perfected,” he said.
“We do hope that this call by
President Buhari is not a camouflage for the fake soldiers mobilized by the APC
to shoot at innocent Nigerians, snatch ballot boxes and execute their rigging
plans on the election day. It is indeed a license to kill, which should not
come from any leader of any civilized nation.
“President Buhari must however
bear in mind that his resort to threats and scaremongering will not deter
Nigerians from coming out en masse to vote him out of office on February 23.”
Ologbondiyan also accused Buhari
of mounting pressure on the electoral commission to cancel elections in some
states so as to achieve a staggered election.
He said the president has asked
INEC to reshuffle resident electoral commissioners (RECs) in order to pave way
for the return of the APC government.
“Intelligence available to us
shows that the Buhari Presidency has directed the leadership of the Independent
National Electoral Commission (INEC) to immediately reshuffle the Resident
Electoral Commissioners (RECs) in order to deploy compromised officials to
manipulate the electoral process in President Buhari’s favour, as they did with
the police shortly before February 16,” he said.
“Our party is also aware of the
pressure being mounted by the Buhari Presidency on INEC to cancel elections in
some states and make others inconclusive so as to achieve President Buhari’s
objectives of a staggered election not minding the crisis such will trigger
across the federation.”
The PDP called on Nigerians and
the international community to hold Buhari responsible for any electoral
crisis.
“We want Nigerians and the
international community to hold President Buhari personally responsible for any
electoral crisis, otherwise he will as usual, claim that he was not aware of
the plots and transfer the blame to Adams Oshiomhole and Rotimi Amaechi,” he
said.
“It is already known that
President Buhari has been unrelenting in his attempts to subdue our democracy
by trying to subjugate the legislature, emasculate the judiciary and seize
control of the electoral umpire.
“Nevertheless, the PDP wants to
assure President Buhari that our nation is bigger than him and that Nigerians
will never allow him and the APC to rig this election.”
Is PDP planning to rig or snatched ballot boxes? If no, why crying foul ? Has Buhari ever mentioned to kill at sight to ballot box snatchers ? Why are they hitting the polity high? PDP I fear you ooo
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