President Goodluck Jonathan, yesterday, urged the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Muhammadu (rtd) to call his supporters to order, following the burning of his campaign vehicles in Jos, Plateau State.
Jonathan who suspected that APC supporters were behind the burning of the vehicles described the action as a sign of desperation by the opposition party.
In a statement, yesterday, in Abuja, Director of Media and Publicity of PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, warned General Buhari and the APC not to prepare the ground for the re-enactment of the post-election violence of 2011.
“It is on record that General Buhari’s utterances since 2011 have fuelled violence especially the post-election violence in parts of the North which claimed the lives of many youth corps members who were deployed as ad-hoc staff for that year’s election.
“It is sad that up till now, General Buhari has refused to apologize to the Nigerian people for that barbaric and shameful incident or show any remorse for the actions of his supporters. He could not even bring himself to tender an apology to the families of those young corps members that were hacked to death and murdered in cold blood by his agents.
“As if that was not enough tragedy unleashed on the polity, General Buhari recently said that the ‘baboon and the dog would be soaked in blood if what happened in 2011 repeats itself in 2015.
“The Jos attack on the campaign buses of President Goodluck Jonathan would appear to be a pointer to what the opposition APC presidential candidate is planning before and after the February 14 presidential election.
“We, therefore, call on well-meaning Nigerians and members of the international community to speak forcefully against this development, which threatens our elections and democracy and which falls way below the standard of best international practices,” the statement read.
The Buhari Campaign Organisation has however distanced itself from the allegation, saying that the incident in Jos was passed as a PDP on PDP violence arising from the party’s rigged primaries.
In a statement by the Director, Media and Publicity of the Buhari Campaign Organisation, Mallam Garba Shehu, the APC said “the incident in Jos was passed as a PDP on PDP violence flowing from their rigged primaries. That is the earliest security report we got. Nobody should change that and use it to demonize opponents.
“General Buhari was the first to condemn this incident the moment it was reported on Saturday. Check his Twitter handle. These were his words: ‘I have been informed of the burning of PDP campaign buses in Jos today. This is unacceptable! There is no excuse for this violence.’
“I am hoping that the police will immediately investigate, arrest and prosecute the culprits. Our democracy cannot tolerate violence in any form. PDP should leave us out of their Wahala,” the statement read.