By Baron Ike
The opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has alleged that Nigeria’s democracy was under attack, blaming the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) for all the noticeable problems.
The PDP made the allegation on Wednesday at a world press conference in Abuja addressed by its spokesman, Kola Ologbondiyan.
The party said the APC was emasculating, coercing and decapitating the opposition in a manner that suggested it was planning for a one-party state.
It added that evidence abound on how key members of the PDP, including its governors were being hounded day and night in an attempt to cow them ahead of the 2019 election.
FULL TEXT OF PDP PRESS CONFERENCE READS:
Gentlemen of the Press, our dear nation is now passing through her
darkest hours. Our constitutional democracy is under severe attack.
Agents of fascism are on the prowl. As we speak, Nigeria, as a nation is
being pushed to the brinks and personal freedom of citizens under our
constitution is no longer guaranteed.
Today, in our country, there is an orchestrated plan by the ruling All
Progressives Congress (APC) Federal Government to use the state
apparatus of power to coerce, emasculate and effectively decapitate
opposition and other dissenting voices, foist a one-party state and push
a self-succession bid for President Muhammadu Buhari, seeing that their
chances of winning the presidential election gets slimmer by the day.
Currently, the APC has fully commenced a major onslaught on leaders and
key voices in the main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party
(PDP), particularly our state governors, opposition leaders in the
National Assembly as well as our presidential hopefuls.
You are already aware of the numerous exposed plots by the APC and its
Federal Government to frame up and humiliate the Deputy Senate
President, Senator Ike Ekweremmadu, as well as PDP governors,
particularly, Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike and his Ekiti state
counterpart, Governor Ayo Fayose.
This is in addition to advanced plots by the Federal Government to
clampdown on key leaders of the party and begin to drop in public
places, alleged confessional statements made under duress in the
desperate attempt to achieve a pre-determined end of validating the
bandying of corruption allegations against members of the PDP.
We have also been made aware of a special presidential committee put up
by the APC Federal Government to persecute our leaders. Already, no
fewer than 28 cases have been filed based on trumped up charges. Also we
are privy to series of clandestine meetings between agents of the APC
and some compromised judicial officers to get conviction at all cost.
In the same vein, we are in the know of plots to embarrass credible
individuals, particularly in the PDP, known or perceived to be
interested in contesting the 2019 Presidential election, having realized
that their party, the APC, is finally stuck with a very unpopular and
rejected Presidential candidate, who can no longer command the support
of Nigerians.
We also want to bring to the attention of the international Community
that in its desperate attempt to win election, the APC-led Federal
Government is stopping at nothing, including resort to undemocratic
proclivities.
The world is already aware of the unrelenting Gestapo style of
persecution, arrests, detention and trial of opposition members as well
as perceived opponents of the government, including innocent business
concerns, under the guise of war against corruption.
We are not opposed to the fight against corruption, which, of course,
was started by our party, through the establishment of credible
anti-corruption institutions. We however demand that prosecutions must
be done in a credible, transparent, legitimate and constitutional
manner. We will not allow the persecution of our members under the guise
of the fight against corruption.
This is in addition to a dangerous plot to arrest and detain members of
the civil society, opinion leaders, the media and other professionals on
trumped up charges of alleged politicization of security issues in the
country, using compromised security and judicial officers.
In the light of the above, the repositioned and rebranded PDP, under the
new leadership, rallied by the Nigerian people, wants to state
unequivocally and in the strongest possible term that it will not in any
way fold its arms and accept any attempt by the APC and the Federal
government to attack or undermine any of our leaders or members, or
supporters at any level of political engagement.
Let it be known to all that this is a repositioned PDP that cannot be
cowed and that we are more than able, willing and overtly ready to use
all means practical and available within the ambits of the law and the
principles of democracy to stiffly resist and stop the APC and the
Federal Government in this evil scheme.
The PDP will no longer allow anybody to tarnish any of our elected and
appointed officials, particularly our state governors and leaders in the
National Assembly and members of our Working Committees at the national,
zonal, state and even at the grassroots levels and will do all within
our laws to protect them.
We know that our governors, especially Governor Wike and Governor Fayose
have been marked because of their principled position against the
obvious incompetence, corruption and undemocratic credentials of the
Buhari administration, for which Nigerians have been subjected to the
worst form of suffering in the last three years.
The PDP is proud of all our governors, particularly, on their
achievements in the delivery of democracy dividends to the people and
will not allow anybody to distract them.
We want to therefore state that if this trend does not stop, we will not
hesitate to call up our members and supporters in their millions in the
collective effort to protect our democracy, using legitimate means
provided by the laws of our land.
It is obvious to all that the failed and rejected APC and its Federal
Government are mortally afraid of the repositioned PDP that has become
the new platform upon which Nigerians are now rallying to rescue our
sinking ship of state from the APC at the 2019 general elections.
This nation belongs to all us, we are equal stakeholders and it lies in
the hands of the electorate to decide who holds any elective office at
any level and not the dictatorship of the government of the day.
We therefore directly caution the Buhari administration to desist from
this attempt at foisting a siege mentality on the political class and
citizenry as if we are under a military regime.
In the same vein, we urge the judiciary and all security agencies to
protect their independence and resist all attempts by the APC to set
them against the provisions of the law and the will of the people.
Finally, while we invite the international community to note the ugly
trend in our dear nation under the APC, we charge all Nigerians not to
despair but to continue to focus on their collective rallying on the
platform of the PDP to achieve our collective quest to end the APC
misrule and return the nation to the path of democracy, national
cohesion, adherence to the rule of law and prosperity, come 2019.
Thank you for your attention.