APC plans violent overthrow of Government, PDP alleges

PDP insists that APC has a hand in the insurgency in the north.

The ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has accused the opposition, All Progressives Congress, APC, of planning a violent overthrow of the government of President Goodluck Jonathan.

The PDP was reacting to an earlier statement by the spokesperson of the APC, Lai Mohammed, who said Mr. Jonathan was not the first president from the minority ethnic groups.

Mr. Mohammed said, before Mr. Jonathan, the country had leaders from minority ethnic groups such as the late Tafawa Balewa, Sani Abacha and Yakubu Gowon. The APC, spokesperson said what differentiated Mr. Jonathan from the other leaders was that he was incompetent. The APC’s statement was a reaction to one by the PDP saying Mr. Jonathan was being attacked by the opposition because he was from an ethnic minority group.

In its response, the PDP accused the APC of planning to destabilise the government and balkanise Nigeria.

“APC had planned to use insurgency which ranks high in its Janjaweed ideology to overthrow a democratically elected government of President Jonathan but has been put under an effective check,” the PDP said in a statement by its spokesperson, Olisa Metuh, on Thursday

It alleged that the plan B of the APC was to use the same insurgency to unleash unprecedented mayhem if it loses the 2015 general election and forcefully take over power. The PDP claimed that it had evidence of meetings held outside the shores of the country in pursuit of this ignoble objective. It added that the APC has been confused and disorganised since its “connection with insurgency as part of its janjaweed ideology in the country was exposed.”

The PDP said that though it was common knowledge that insurgency in the north predated the present administration, it was not a mere coincidence that the attacks increased each time the president moved notches higher in his transformation programme. This, it said, betrayed the efforts by those in the masks and their sponsors to frustrate the efforts of government.

“In spite of this well planned distraction, the steady delivery of the transformation programme goes on. It is incontrovertible that pound for pound, no previous administration compares to President Jonathan in quality delivery within the first three years of governance,” Mr. Metuh said in his statement.

Mr. Metuh accused the APC of comparing a democratically elected presidency to defunct military dictatorships. He said the comparison by the APC was an acknowledgment that the opposition party was planning to take Nigeria back to dictatorship.’

“The APC has never left the nation in doubt of its preference. It wants a return to barefaced tyranny, to dictatorship as previously unleashed on the nation by a hue in its top leadership. But Nigerians have handed the party a shocker – we have crossed the red sea and shall never go back to Egypt,” the PDP spokesperson said.

The ruling party said it was a distortion of facts and history to compare the Jonathan presidency to either Mr. Gowon’s or Mr. Abacha’s even though the three of them come from the minority ethnic group because the two former Heads of State were unelected and operated a purely undiluted military dictatorship that brooked no opposition.

It argued that under the current administration of President Jonathan, the wheel of democracy together with its immense benefits has turned full circle, giving Nigerians all liberties.

“Therefore, each time the APC barks “incompetence” like a rabid dog or hoots “clueless” like a devouring night owl, the PDP and well meaning Nigerians know that the opposition party whose agenda of destabilization has been exposed and unhorsed is licking its wounds. We wish to again challenge the APC to a public debate on the leadership and successes of President Jonathan and we verily hope it will this time pick up this challenge that any opposition worth its name would clinch with two hands,” the PDP said.