The Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) has appealed to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to prevail on its members and supporters to shelve any plan to foment crisis in some parts of the country in the run up to the election.
BMO said in a statement signed by its Chairman, Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary, Cassidy Madueke that it would be good for opposition elements working on stoking violence in the country to have a second thought.
“With credible security report pointing at certain opposition figures as the brain behind the alleged plot to derail the forthcoming election, PDP has swiftly denied that its members have such plans.
“This is because it would not be enough to just dismiss revelations by Minister of Information Lai Mohammed which he insisted are based on credible intelligence with a wave of the hand “.
“It is common knowledge, especially in Benue and adjoining states, that Gana has close links to politicians in the last dispensation and is believed to be in touch with some of these individuals since he was declared wanted by security forces for sundry offences including mass murder.
“We know that military personnel are on the trail of the wanted man and if security reports link him to violence meant to derail an election that President Buhari is set to win, then there is no way the opposition could glibly dismiss it as part of a larger plan to frame leading opposition elements in the run up to the general election”.
BMO noted that a similar alert was raised by the National Security Council in October 2018 on the proliferation and stockpiling of weapons by unscrupulous politicians ahead of the election.This it said made the council to recommend the deployment of security agencies to some states in order to nip the plan in the bud.The pro-Buhari group also urged security agencies to ensure they contain any plan to derail the February 16 elections and the subsequent ones either by Boko Haram or any criminal elements.
“It is against this backdrop that we commend the army authorities for launching Operation Python Dance across the country from January 1 to February 28 as part of efforts to check the activities of militia group and stem the tide of weapons as well as prevent politically-induced violence before and during the Presidential election.”We have no doubt that this exercise would go a long way in passing out the right signal to any one bent on instigating crisis or fomenting violence for political reasons”, BMO said
The group recalled that the Minister specifically mentioned a wanted notorious militia leader Terwase Akwaza, also known as Gana as one of the criminal-minded people that have already been procured to unleash mayhem.
“But we at BMO want the party to go a step further by cautioning its members against even contemplating such an unpatriotic move that could potentially endanger the lives of millions of Nigerians it said : “We know there are politicians who would do anything to get power and human history is replete with such acts of bloodshed but this is clearly not the best time to play politics with human lives.
This,it said, is the most patriotic thing to do at a time the military is overstretched with its involvement in internal security operations in as many as 29 states.