Yemisi Izuora
The Federal Government has warned the public to be circumspect to the
last-minute desperate plot by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to
orchestrate a crisis and trigger a sense of panic among the populace,
in furtherance of their plan to discredit the election and cause a
constitutional crisis.
In a statement issued in Abuja on Tuesday, the Minister of Information
and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said the plot confirms the alarm
raised by the Federal Government on January 21st and February 3rd 2019 that
the PDP is planning to scuttle the election and, where that fails,
discredit it.
He said in the days ahead, PDP bigwigs, including its presidential
candidate Atiku Abubakar, his running mate Peter Obi, PDP Governors
and others, are planning a world press conference in order to level
frivolous and unfounded allegations against the federal government and
the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Alhaji Mohammed said that part of the false allegations they plan to
make is that the Presidency, in connivance with the APC, is planning
to force the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to
announce presidential election results that are favourable to the
government in power, on the basis of the false premise that the APC’s
intelligence team is worried that the ruling party would lose the elections.
He said the PDP bigwigs also plan to use their world press conference
to further disparage the Buhari Administration as well as the ruling
APC, with a view to painting an unfavourable image of both to
Nigerians and the international community and to put the government on
the defensive in the run-up to the polls.
The Minister said the PDP’s last joker is a two-hour live press
conference to be addressed by the PDP Publicity Secretary, Mr. Kola
Ologbodiyan, on Feb. 14th, the last day of electioneering campaign, to
chronicle all their concocted allegations and lies against the ruling
government, cast aspersion on government and ruling party officials
and throw innuendos here and there.
”As electioneering campaign winds down, the PDP has realized that it
cannot possibly win a free, fair and credible polls. It has thus
resorted to engaging in red herring, hauling insults and abuses at
federal government and ruling party officials and making outlandish
allegations with a view to creating a sense of panic and crisis.
”The truth is that President Muhammadu Buhari, a man respected
globally for his integrity, has continuously assured that the
elections will be free, fair, credible and peaceful. He has warmly
welcomed observers, both local and foreign., because he has nothing to
hide, and because he is sure that the achievements of his
Administration will win him re-election.
”We are therefore calling on all Nigerians and the international
community to disregard any attempt to scuttle or discredit the polls.
We urge observers to keep an open mind. There is no cause for alarm,
except in the warped imagination of the PDP, which has entered the
panic mode and is already ruing the loss of another general election
even before it has been held,” he said.