INEC facilities: PDP, APC in war of words

The main opposition party, the People’s Democratic Party and the ruling All Progressives Congress, (APC), on Tuesday, traded blames over the ongoing arsonists’ attacks on facilities of the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC) in the South-south and Southeast states in the country.

The main opposition party had in a statement, on Tuesday, signed by its national publicity secretary, Kola Ologbodiyan, accused the APC as the mastermind of the vandalisation and burning of buildings of the electoral body in the South-south and Southeast states of Akwa Ibom, Imo, Anambra, Enugu States and the Ebonyi States.

But the ruling party in a statement last night signed by its national secretary, Senator John James Akpanudoedehe faulted the claim of the main opposition party.

Kola Ologbondiyan claimed the attacks on INEC offices were orchestrated plots by the APC to instigate an emergency situation and undermine genuine transition.

The opposition party noted that the APC, being the party in power, ought to have initiated proactive security measures to halt the ongoing attacks on INEC facilities.

He said:” It is despicable that having realised that it has no place in the 2023 election, given its abysmal failure in governance, APC leaders are seeking to set our country ablaze and truncate our hard-earned democracy.

“The PDP invites Nigerians to note the failure of the APC and its leaders to forcefully condemn this clear assault on our frontline institution of democracy. This is also as the APC administration has failed to take decisive steps to protect INEC facilities from assailants.

“Our party wants the APC to know that May 29, 2023 date is sacrosanct for it to leave office, free our nation from its stranglehold and fizzle out from our political firmament.”

The PDP called on Nigerians to pray and be vigilant, “so that our nation survives the next two years under the vindictive, insensitive, incompetent, treasury looting, divisive and violent APC and its administration.”

Senator Akpanudoedehe in a counter statement, on Tuesday night, likened the claim of the PDP to the woman in King Solomon judgement on the Holy Bible who conceded that the baby be severed into two to solve the riddle of the real mother.

“The senseless and reckless statement from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on the attack on offices of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) reminds us of the judgement of King Solomon in the case of the two women claiming to be the rightful mother of a child.

“While the PDP is willing to split the baby to achieve their desperate and rejected plans for the country, the All Progressives Congress (APC) is continuously doing everything necessary for the country’s progress and defence of our democracy.

“Using lies and sponsored media attacks on the President Muhammadu Buhari-led APC government, the PDP has inadvertently shown its hands as sponsors behind the politically-motivated attacks on some of our public and democratic institutions in the country, all in a clearly desperate bid to destabilise this government.”

The APC noted that it could not be winning election as the party in control of the majority in the National Assembly, with the highest number of governors and be orchestrating plots to destroy INEC facilities.

The APC further maintained that it had “deliberately refrained from commenting on the obviously sponsored attacks on INEC facilities in order not to pre-empt the efforts of our security services to unravel the sponsors.

“The truth is now in the open and our security services should act fast and decisively against these enemies of democracy and haters of a legitimately elected government.

“Perhaps, the PDP thinks Nigerians have forgotten its long and documented penchant of eroding and destroying democratic institutions.

“To name one, was it not the same PDP that attempted to discredit INEC and the entire 2019 election with a bogus tale of a server that never existed and employed hackers to disrupt the communication network of the electoral body during the 2019 election?

“The APC cannot be at home and burn its house. A winner cannot destroy the process that brought it to success.”

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INEC facilities: PDP, APC in war of words

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