TheCable

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) says opposition All Progressives COngress (APC) is bent on causing division among the people and breaking up the nation.

The ruling party also described its candidate in next yer’s election, President Goodluck Jonathan, as a committed national and patriotic leader for his warning to politicians to desist from sowing seeds of discord among Nigerians by their utterances.


The party, through Olisa Metuh, its spokesman, said the president’s statement was a “perfect act in nationalism, the mark of true leader who is committed to the interest and welfare of the nation and her citizens”.

It urged the opposition to heed this caution, show decency, patriotism and shun do-or-die quest for power.

According to the PDP, “it is the height of hypocrisy that the All Progressives Congress (APC) would turn round to point a finger of guilt at the president.”

The APC had urged the president to show example by prevailing on his associates, spokespersons and supporters to refrain from making inflammatory statements that were targeted at the opposition.

“It is indeed unfortunate that instead of retracing their steps, as all well-meaning citizens would have done under the circumstance, the APC, in their desperation, went ahead to justify their unguarded statements with renewed personal attack on the president,” the PDP said.

“By refusing to heed calls by patriotic Nigerians, including the president, to shed their penchant for inciting statements, and for showing no remorse over the fact that their statements fuel violence and insurgency, the APC has again confirmed that it is a party of unpatriotic elements on a mission to destroy our country.

“This has further confirmed that APC is a party of determined and irredeemable anarchists, a tool in the hands of enemies of our dear nation whose agenda is to divide the people and break up the nation for their selfish interests.

“Nigerians can now see the real reason the APC has been attacking not only the presidency but also key institutions of government, including the national assembly, the judiciary, Independent National Electoral Commission as well as the military and other security forces. For the APC, every institution that represents or protects the unity of the nation must be attacked, weakened and ultimately destroyed.”

The party accused APC of nursing an agenda to politicise the military and other security agencies.

“Nigerians were shocked and we find it very absurd that the leadership of the APC justified the unhealthy comments by the director-general of the presidential campaign organisation of the APC and Rivers state governor, Rotimi Amaechi, who came under the cloak of fake populism to attempt to politicise the military,” PDP added.

“While some people thought that Amaechi was alone in an attention-seeking stunt, the justification by the APC has clearly shown that he was pursing his party’s ignoble agenda, which is to drag the military into the political arena, destroy its unity and professionalism and ultimately weaken it ahead of their plot to unleash mayhem in the country by forming a parallel government after they must have lost the 2015 presidential election.”

Stating that the Jonathan administration had rebuilt and re-equipped the military to confront the current security challenges, the PDP called on Nigerians and all lovers of democracy to be vigilant and close ranks to ensure that the enemies of the nation did not have their way.