The ruling Peoples Democratic Party,PDP ,apparently smarting from the series of criticism of its alleged regime of impunity by leaders of the opposition, has distanced itself from the ongoing spate of impeachment across the states in the country.
Olisa Metuh ,national publicity secretary of PDP said in a statement on Tuesday said “ For the avoidance of doubt, the PDP has never been involved in any impeachment process and we wish to publicly urge our members in all the state houses of assembly to thread with caution and be guided by due process, rule of law in the execution of their legislative duties.
Speaking on the impeachment threat hanging over Nasarawa state governor Tanko Al Makura,the PDP Spokesman said “ we are bold to claim that nobody on either side of the divide in Nasarawa state can claim the involvement of the Presidency or that of our national leadership in the impeachment saga.
The full text of his address to journalists on Tuesday says :
The leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has observed a series of pronouncements and threats from leading opposition politicians on the state of the nation.
That these leaders have taken turns, in quick succession, in this vicious condemnation of the leadership of the country is not a mere coincidence. Nigerians suspect, and we stand to be corrected that these pronouncements are not in vain but part of the larger plot to build a groundswell of negativity with the ultimate aim of truncating our hard earned democracy.
We are therefore not puzzled that the common denominator of these orchestrated statements are weighty but baseless accusations against the Federal Government and the ruling party on the health of our democracy and the unity of the country.
However, a catalogue of events involving these politicians and their political party indicate that they are the real causative agents of the issues they accuse the Federal Government and the PDP of.
Just few months ago, the APC was basking in the euphoria of their merger as well as their illusioned dominance of the Nigerian political space and saw nothing wrong in the democratic institutions and the processes. It is therefore hypocritical that the same APC has turned around in condemnation simply because they are currently suffering a self inflicted reversal of fortune.
While it is simplistic for the APC to harp on perceived infractions or failings of the PDP, they conveniently ignore the fact that their actions and inactions pose the greatest threat to democracy. This brings us to the question; “who actually is threatening democracy in this country ?”
For over a year, the leaders of the APC have sustained attacks on critical institutions of government. They have also committed enormous efforts in fanning the ambers of violence and division among Nigerians with the aim of destabilizing the PDP led Federal government, weaken the institutions and truncate our democracy.
Nigerians are very much aware that the APC and its leaders have been at the centre of actions and utterances that have in no small measure been promoting hatred, violence and division in the polity. These are the very acts that embolden insurgency and pave the way for the ignoble design of the APC which is to overheat the system, weaken the foundation of our nationhood, all in desperation for power.
Sustained vitriolic attacks and campaign of calumny against the legislature, the very citadel of the democracy and the will of the people at the national and state levels is at the top of this APC destabilisation programme. On many occasions, the APC has labeled federal legislatures as corrupt accusing them of receiving millions of dollars to do PDP’s bidding. They have also cast aspersions on the state legislature, calling them “pliant assemblies”, with the sole aim of projecting them as compromised and unreliable .
Nigerians have also witnessed the onslaughts and spirited attempts to destroy the judiciary by the APC. When they secured a favourable judgment that gave them three states, there was nothing wrong. They hailed the judiciary. However, once a ruling goes against the APC, they turn the heat on them.
In the same vein, Nigerians are witness to the constant attacks by the APC on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) which it has continued to project as partisan, compromised and incapable of delivering a free and fair election. However, the same APC described the INEC in superlatives when they won the Edo state governorship elections.
The security agencies especially the military are not left out in this APC’s agenda of destruction. The aim again is to project them as weak, compromised and incapable of giving protection to Nigerians, all in their determination to undermine the PDP-led federal government.
In the recent time, the APC leaders and have been spending huge sums of money in sponsoring publications using foreign consultants as well as organizing pockets of orchestrated protests within and outside the country to destroy the image of our dear nation internationally.
Again, the APC being fully aware that Nigerians now know their true colours, have carefully taken steps to build a groundswell of negatives to discredit the PDP and the Federal Government in view of the 2015 general elections.
However, it is auspicious once more to draw the attention of Nigerians to the anti-democratic activities of the APC which their leaders in their selective criticism have refused to acknowledge.
For instance, what can pose a greater threat to democracy than the whimsical actions of APC governors in their states, where respect for institutions of democracy have been thrown overboard; where disdain for the rule of law has became the order of the day and the rights of the people trampled under feet.
Before all of us, democratically elected local government councils in Imo state were sacked by the APC led government of Rochas Okorocha to the disdain and chagrin of the citizens. The same scenario played out in Rivers state where Governor Rotimi Amaechi sacked the elected chairman of Obio/Akpo Local Council and in Edo where Governor Adams Oshiomhole also dissolved elected local councils in the state before the expiration of their tenure.
In Edo, Nasarawa and Lagos states, our great party won seats in the local government elections only for the APC-led state governments to upturn the results in their favour. Nigerians can only imagine what will be the order of the day if the APC is in control of the center.
On the issue of impeachment in Adamawa and similar developments in other states, we hereby restate our respect for the principle of separation of powers.
For the avoidance of doubt, the PDP has never been involved in any impeachment process and we wish to publicly urge our members in all the state houses of assembly to thread with caution and be guided by due process, rule of law in the execution of their legislative duties.
Finally, we are bold to claim that nobody on either side of the divide in Nasarawa state can claim the involvement of the Presidency or that of our national leadership in the impeachment saga.
The PDP challenges the leadership of the APC to produce any corroboration of this allegation within the Government of Nasarawa State. The Governor of Nasarawa state has never and can never lay claim to the complicity of the Presidency and the PDP leadership in this matter. Why then are these uninvited guests crying more than the bereaved.
