The leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) condemns in the strongest possible terms the emerging height of political recklessness in Lagos and Ekiti states ahead of Saturday’s governorship and House of Assembly elections and calls on all Nigerians to stand up against such anti-democratic tendencies.
The senseless and
unpatriotic impeachment move against Governor Ayo Fayose by out-going APC state
legislators and the barbaric death threats on non-indigenes in Lagos by the Oba
of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu if they vote for the PDP candidate, Mr. Jimi Agbaje
ascend to a height of unruliness that should not be accommodated.
The PDP totally and unequivocally rejects the flimsy and
unsubstantiated allegations concocted by the APC legislators against Governor
Fayose. We state in very clear terms that we will stand with him and bear our
full weight in defense of the mandate freely given to him by the people of
Ekiti state.
We invite all lovers of democracy and the international community to note the antics of APC and the deliberate plot to destabilize the polity even when it is yet to assume power.
In the same vein, it
is indeed most unfortunate that a royal father of the status of the Oba of
Lagos should attempt to drag the revered traditional institution into partisan
politics to the level of threatening innocent Nigerians with the view to
prevent them from freely exercising their constitutionally guaranteed right.
Our response to the Oba of Lagos is that he cannot play God
and can never be God. God owns the universe and every part of it and can never
share His glory with any human no matter how highly placed. We therefore call
on all Nigerians in Lagos state; all Igbos, Hausas, Yorubas and people of other
tribes; all northerners and southerners; all Christians and Muslims to turn
against this unpatriotic stance, by coming out enmasse to vote for the PDP
candidate, Mr. Jimi Agbaje on Saturday.
Undoubtedly, this anti-Nigeria position reminds of the 2013
inhuman and callous arrest, detention and eventual ‘deportation’ of
non-indigenes by the APC-led government of Lagos state and confirms fears that
the APC is indeed on a mission to destroy our national unity, balkanize the
nation and obliterate the personal freedom Nigerians enjoy today.
Already, the APC has started terrorizing supporters of the
PDP with vows to make life unbearable for them when it eventually assumes
power. Our investigation reveals that many of our prominent supporters have
been marked. The process has already started with threats to the life, family
and business of the Chairman of the Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria
(TAN), Dr. Ifeanyi Ubah for supporting PDP candidates and helping non-indigenes
win some Lagos seats in the National Assembly on the platform of the our great
party.
Indeed, if this threats on a duly elected state governor and
innocent Nigerians constitute the picture or foretaste of the order of the day
when the APC finally assumes power at the center, then the nation is in serious
danger. However, the PDP states in very unambiguous terms that Nigerians would
not accept such under any guise whatsoever.
This is more so because in the last 16 years, our citizens
from all walks of lives have seen civility and decorum under the PDP-led
administration and would not accept any attempt by anybody to institute a reign
of terror in the country.
We therefore urge General Muhammadu Buhari as the leader of
the APC to call his members and supporters, particularly in Lagos and Ekiti to
order; especially bearing in mind that it was the peaceful atmosphere and the
level playing ground nurtured by the PDP-led administration that created the
room for his emergence at the presidential polls.
Our country cannot at this moment afford to slide into
anarchy, reign of terror and deliberate schemes to divide the people for
selfish political reasons.
The PDP will completely resist all anti democratic forces
from any quarters. We therefore charge Nigerians, especially those in Lagos and
Ekiti states respectively to stand up fearlessly and reject the unpatriotic
stance of the Oba of Lagos and the undemocratic move to dismantle the mandate
given to Governor Ayo Fayose by the people.
Signed:
Olisa Metuh
National Publicity Secretary
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