The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has decried what it called the unrelenting use of security forces, including special police and military units by the All
Progressives Congress (APC) to subjugate Nigerians and provide cover for their thugs to unleash violence, disrupt polling processes and foist fake results at elections.
It said that such brazen assault on the will of the people, particularly as witnessed in the last Saturday’s Rivers State Assembly bye-election, was completely
provocative, incendiary and has an unlimited capacity to elicit violent resistance from the people and derail the nation’s democracy, especially as it approaches the 2019 general election.
The PDP, through its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, disclosed to
Nigerians that the use of security agencies by the APC to aid the subjugation of the people has become a regular practice as witnessed in the July 14, 2018 Ekiti governorship election, the
2016 Edo State governorship election, the bye-elections in Kogi, Bauchi, Katsina and Cross Rivers and most recently, the River State Assembly bye-election, where special police units were used to manhandle voters, while providing cover for APC thugs to attack voters, snatch ballot boxes and disrupt the election.
According to the PDP, “the APC, in its desperation, is resorting to this underhand means, because it knows that there is no way it can win in any peaceful and transparently conducted election in any part of the country due to the public indignation against its dismal performance in the last three years.
“Our worry as a party, however, is that Nigerians are daily pushed to the wall and there is a limit to what they can endure, without resorting to violent resistance, particularly in the face of unrelenting subversion of their will and freedom to select leaders or representatives of their choice.”
he PDP further allegedthat the resort to violence by the APC was to test-run its plans to rig the 2019 general elections, stressing, “we ask, what shall it profit a man to gain political power and set his nation ablaze?”
It therefore cautioned all those being used by the APC to know that history would not forgive them for the atrocities.
“They will forever be remembered for their ignoble past and have their places in the hall of shame,” PDP said.