The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has alerted Nigerians to an alleged plan by the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to unleash violence in areas where some opposition parties are strong.
The plan is to force the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to cancel election results in such areas and give the PDP an undeserved advantage ACN alleged.
In a statement yesterday in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, ACN National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said the pre-election violence being perpetrated by the PDP across the country was a dress rehearsal for the devilish, election-day plan.
It accused the Police of allowing PDP thugs to have a field day and pushing the ruling party’s agenda by arresting actual victims of the PDP-instigated violence.
ACN said: “With the elections looming, the PDP has unleashed violence against the opposition in Kwara, Benue, Taraba, Akwa Ibom and Edo states, just to mention a few states. Yet, President Goodluck Jonathan, who has continued to promise free and fair elections, has not condemned the violence or taken concrete steps to stop it until a few days to the polls. This may be too little too late. How can Nigeria have free and fair elections in an atmosphere of violence?”
Giving details of the PDP-instigated violence, ACN alleged that the ruling party’s thugs, under Police cover, destroyed opposition candidates’ billboards, unleashed mayhem, killed and maimed opposition supporters ahead of President Jonathan’s campaign visit to Kwara State.
It said no one had been arrested or charged.
ACN said: “In Benue, PDP thugs first shot at Gen. Lawrence Onoja and Alhaji Usman Abubakar aka Young Alhaji, both opposition candidates, only to become emboldened by Police inaction and then killed Onoja’s Personal Assistant.
“In Taraba State, Governor Danbaba Suntai has embarked on an unlawful deployment of troops of the Nigeria Armed Forces to suppress and intimidate opponents. A petition on this has been sent to the Chief of Army Staff and copied to all concerned, in the interest of peace.
“In Akwa Ibom, ACN supporters, on a peaceful campaign rally, were ambushed and killed, as part of a well-choreographed campaign of intimidation against the party in the state. The Police have yet to act to stem the tide of violence.
“In Edo State, PDP thugs killed three aides of our Senatorial candidate for Edo North, and he himself narrowly escaped death. The violence in these states is aimed at also cowing voters and scaring them away from the polling stations on election days.
“If the people do not succumb to this strategy, then the PDP – which has realised that defeat awaits it in the polls due to its mismanagement of the country in the past 12 years – plans to move to the next stage, which is to unleash violence on election days in opposition-controlled areas, just to force INEC to cancel the results in those such areas.”
The party said PDP’s evil plan would boomerang, because Nigerians are determined not only to vote peacefully and in large numbers for a party that will make a positive impact in their lives, but to also protect their votes, since the Police have shown they cannot be trusted to be neutral.
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PDP plans to use violence as election strategy, ACN alleges