PDP alleges plot by Oshiomhole, Gambari to truncate democracy

• Seeks sanction by U.S., U.K., others
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has urged the international community to impose sanctions on President Muhammadu Buhari’s Chief of Staff, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, former national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole and others who are involved in an alleged plot to truncate democracy in Nigeria.

PDP also charged the National Assembly to investigate an alleged plot to arrest opposition leaders in Edo State as indicated in a leaked video.

Addressing journalists in Abuja yesterday, the PDP National Chairman, Uche Secondus, lamented that “threat to our democracy is becoming more and more real by the day.”

The PDP claimed that democracy was becoming more endangered because of the “growing desperation of the APC and the Presidency to capture Edo State” in the September 19 gubernatorial election at all cost.

“We are deeply saddened that under the watch of an elected President, Muhammadu Buhari, who is a huge beneficiary of democracy, the nation’s highest seat of power is being used for the hatching of plans to undermine democracy,” Secondus stated.

According to him, Gambari is such a strategic staff that when he is involved in any underhand thing, the President cannot free himself from it.

The PDP accused the government of ignoring the myriad of problems facing Nigerians to engage in planning how to blackmail and arrest the opposition.

“It’s also in our findings that there are several efforts of APC leaders to arm-twist the INEC into falling for their devious move to shift the election. All these anti-democratic moves are aimed at one thing, creating a constitutional logjam to disrupt the election because they know they cannot win.

“As all these underhand moves were crumbling before their eyes, the former chairman of APC was smuggled in Aso Rock Villa to fine tune the rigging strategy for Edo.”

Secondus said the development is not only shameful but very unfortunate” that the nation’s seat of power housing a democratically elected President has to be used to plan how to inflict harm on democracy,” Secondus said.

The opposition party urged both the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the judiciary to stand firm in defence of democracy.

The party drew the attention of the international community to “this gross abuse of planning to undermine democratic process by critical staff who should defend it.”

It demanded appropriate sanction of the individuals involved “in this anti- democratic act”, adding that they should be given visa restrictions to any democratic countries.