The acting national chairman of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Uche Secondus, has said that the recent comments credited to the national chairman of the governing All Progressives Congress, APC, John Odigie-Oyegun, on plans to “take over” PDP states in the South South, were “unfortunate and disappointing”.
Mr. Secondus said Mr. Oyegun’s “boast” while reacting to the ruling of the Court of Appeal judgment on Rivers state governorship petition in which he said; “I am more confident of winning Akwa-Ibom than any other state in the South-South…we are going to win; that is almost a certainty”, is not only careless but also smacks of impunity and arrogance that has characterized the APC.
The comment, the PDP chairman, said proved that the APC carried out ”underhand deals with unscrupulous electoral and judicial operatives”.
“Perhaps, it is pertinent to ask; ‘how could Chief Oyegun have known for certainty the outcome of the gubernatorial dispute in Akwa-Ibom state, a matter that may end up in the Supreme Court? Is this not a clear indication so far that Chief Oyegun and the APC are indeed interfering with the judicial processes in their quest to forcefully take over PDP states?
“Having severally alerted Nigerians and the international community of the plans of the APC to decimate the opposition by ‘taking over’ states controlled by the PDP, especially in Rivers and Akwa-Ibom states of the South-South zone by every means possible, we warn of dire consequences of actions by the APC to disrupt the will of the people of these two states,” Mr. Secondus said in a statement on Saturday.
He said the plans by the APC portends danger to the nation’s democracy and unity.
“History is our witness that similar desperation by the ruling party to unduly win in the opposition strongholds in the 1964 federal elections precipitated the collapse of the first republic. History repeated itself in 1983 after the ‘moon slide’ agenda of the NPN was implemented.
“Against this background, Chief Oyegun and the APC are cautioned to desist from acts of impunity and inordinate plots that jeopardize our hard-won democracy, which the PDP painstakingly nurtured in the last 16 years.
“At a time our nation is faced with serious issues like insurgency in the north, the Biafra question, the Shiite crisis and general insecurity in the land, the APC government needs to engage in actions and utterances that engender peace, harmony and solidarity from all Nigerians, instead of allowing itself to needlessly dabble into political adventurism and ‘terrorism’.
“The APC should hold its head down that seven months after getting the peoples mandate at the national level, it has woefully failed to lift governance to any level resulting in agony, disenchantment and regrets among the citizens.
“Finally, while we note that the evil of the APC like any other has an expiring date and would be overcome by the collective will of the people, we charge Nigerians and all lovers of democracy to stand up against undemocratic proclivities of the APC in its perverse quest to subjugate the people and impose their selfish will in the land,” he said.
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