PDP insists APC plans to impose one-party state

THE Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has insisted that the All Progressives Congress (APC) has plans to foist a one-party state on Nigerians.

In a statement yesterday, the Special Assistant to PDP’s National Publicity Secretary, Richard Ihediwa, said contrary to denials by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the APC is plotting to impose a one-party system in the country and is now approaching some senior members of the PDP with phantom promises and threats ostensibly to destabilise the party.

The statement said: “We are aware that as part of the plot, the APC in the past few weeks has been luring and encouraging some of our members to issue derogatory statements against the leadership of our party. While some of their accomplices have openly decamped, we know that others have been instructed to stay back and cause crisis within our ranks.

“Even in states where they lost, the APC has engaged in violence and instigating crisis all in the bid to impose a one-party system in the country.”

In another development, the Lagos State Chapter of the PDP has flayed Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola and Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) for refusing to conduct council polls but rather abetting the continuous existence of undemocratic councils in the state.

The spokesman of the party, Taofik Gani, in a statement yesterday said the composition and existence of the councils, as they presently stand, is illegal, unconstitutional and democracy aberration as they are not recognised or accommodated in any of our governing laws.

The party stated: “By Section 7 of the 1999 Constitution (As amended), only democratically-elected local council is guaranteed.

“It is thus unexpected that a lawyer-governor who claims to be a progressive and democrat can continually disregard this constitutional provision and allowing illegal, unconstitutional councils since October 2014 when the tenure of the last councils terminated.”

The PDP statement continued: “Furthermore, the PDP National Publicity Secretary does not need Alhaji Mohammed’s so-called six weeks crash course in party publicity. He does not need a course on how to insult and denigrate the office and person of the President of our country. He has already made it clear that the PDP will do no such thing but only focus on constructive criticism while presenting credible alternatives to the policies and programmes of the incoming administration in a manner that will promote democracy and well-being of Nigerians.

“Nobody can learn anything from the APC National Publicity Secretary except abuses, divisiveness, lies and hate-campaign. Nigerians know that Lai Mohammed is the originator of hate-campaign with which he fouled our contemporary political arena. It is to say the least, despicable that his style badly influenced hundreds of young people who now engage in abusing each other on the social media thinking that such is what publicity is all about.”

For emphasis, we ask Alhaji Mohammed to go back to the statements the PDP and APC issued in the last three months and he will realise that while he was busy with hate-campaign, raining insults and telling lies, Chief Metuh focused only on points, marketing our candidates while promoting policies and issues that engender national unity, stability and progress. The APC spokesman must understand that Chief Metuh is not in any way the weakest link but has only chosen to be mature, humble and civil in dealing with national issues.

The Lagos PDP tasked Fashola to prove beyond doubt that he is truly a democrat by immediately ensuring that LASIEC releases the notice of elections for a free, fair, credible poll.

Whilst also tasking the state House of Assembly to make necessary amendments to the present LASIEC law to accommodate the use of PVC’s and card reader to conduct the council polls, the party said: “We are taken aback that a lawyer- governor can run the state councils with illegal and unconstitutional structures. Ditto, the APC as a party is in all the 57 councils illegally and they pretend to be democrats. The decision of the APC in the state to continue to delay the council polls vindicates our stance that the APC is not popular in the state. They are jittery of defeat.”