By; BUHARI B. BELLO, Jos
The main opposition party in Plateau State, People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has accused the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of mobilizing political thugs to remove billboards and campaign materials belonging to its candidates within Jos metropolis and the state at large ahead of the presidential campaign flag off.
According to the state publicity Secretary of the party, Mr John Akan, in a statement made available to New Nigerian on Wednesday November 9, 2022, such moves are targetted at deceiving Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“The premeditated act of violence, we understand, is intended to deceive the APC presidential candidate, Alhaji Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and his running mate, Alhaji Kashim Shettima, into believing that Plateau State belongs to the APC, when the duo and their supporters arrive Jos for the flag-off of their campaigns next week, on November 15.”
PDP in the state also called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), to act immediately to stop violence and destruction of campaign materials as outlawed by the Electoral Act 2022, and specifically contravened Sections 92-93 of the Act.
“We also want to use this medium to call on the Department of State Services (DSS), Nigeria Police Force, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Operation Safe Haven, and indeed all security formations in Plateau State, to investigate this early warning notification, and stop the APC from going through with the planned show of violence, political rascality and intolerance,” the party added.
They further alleged that Governor Simon Lalong who is also the Director General of the APC Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) over the weekend, inaugurated a Local Organizing Committee (LOC) ahead of the flag-off of the APC Presidential Campaigns, with clear instructions to demonstrate that the state is a dominant force in their part
“we believe that the ongoing mobilization of political thugs to wreck havoc on our campaign materials and infrastructure, is one of the desperate moves the APC intends to use to demonstrate their hallucinatory dominance in Plateau State.
“To this end therefore, we are of the solemn conviction that there is no smoke without fire. Consequently, we are calling on INEC, security agencies, and indeed all stakeholders in the electoral process to prevail on the APC to be law abiding, and to stop the fire before it grows to a raging inferno that would engulf the whole State
Reacting on the accusation, the ruling APC in the state described it as “an infantile, wild and baseless allegation to give the fast sinking PDP in the state undue sympathy.”
According to the state publicity Secretary of the party, Mr Sylvanus Namang, APC remains a very responsible and responsive party, fully aware of its social contract with the people.
He explained that APC only set up a committee headed by the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Idris Maje Wase and 39 other decent, peaceable and very responsible individuals, but to use political thugs in destruction of PDP billboards in Jos is a blatant lie.
“The desperate whipping of sentiments by one of the directionless spokesmen of the party will not change or bring the fractious party to reckoning in Plateau State.
“The APC does not need to vandalise what is non existence. We need a real opposition party in the state, which the PDP has since lost that status except for its noisy social media provocation to gain sympathy.
“We know that they had not been sleeping well since the announcement of Jos as the flag off venue of the APC Presidential Campaign on the 15th of November”. He said.
According to him, bringing INEC, the Police, DSS and the NSCDC into a non existing threat is ridiculous.
“We call on the security agencies to investigate the PDP to prove its allegation. The APC in the state also calls on the security apparatus in the state to be on the alert and put an eagle eye on the PDP supporters as what the mind speaks, comes from the heart.
“The party must be the one planning to wreak havoc and disrupt the peace and serenity of the state.
“The LOC members he accused of being instructed by the governor to cause mayhem and violence as part of the presidential campaign flag off is too childish,” he said.
