The Peoples Democratic Party and the Presidency on Sunday
engaged in a war of words over Friday’s invasion of the Akwa-
Ibom State Government House by the operatives of the
Department of State Services.
While the former ruling party accused the Presidency of being
behind the invasion, the Presidency asked Nigerians to ignore
the “defeated political party”, saying it has yet to recover from
its loss at the polls.
Nevertheless, the PDP said it would no longer stomach the
continued and unlawful use of state apparatus by the All
Progressives Congress-led Federal Government to harass its
elected officials at all levels across the country.
The party said the APC-led government had crossed the line in
unleashing the DSS, now under the leadership of Alhaji Lawal
Daura, on the Akwa-Ibom State Government House, Uyo, in
violation of the “constitutional immunity of the government
house.”
The PDP National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, in a
statement in Abuja on Sunday, noted that the invasion was a
clear recipe for what he described as a constitutional crisis, civil
unrest and avoidable anarchy in the land.
He called on Nigerians and the international community “to take
copious note of the act”.
Metuh said the PDP’s investigations had shown that the DSS
acted on the express orders of the APC’s Presidency, which he
said had been in a desperate bid to destabilise and forcefully take
over Akwa-Ibom and other PDP states.
He said, “We have information that the DSS, acting on the
instructions of the Presidency, occupied the Akwa-Ibom State
Government House, ransacking guest houses for no just cause.
“If such terror can be unleashed on a state government, one can
only imagine the fate of regular citizens in the hands of this
administration that has continued to show unparalleled disdain
for constitutional order, with heinous penchant for oppression.
“We have also been made aware of plans by the APC
government to stage similar invasions and unlawful assaults on
other PDP states, including Rivers, Delta, Abia and Taraba,
where electoral officers are already being hounded and harassed
by the DSS, who are also directly interfering in the activities of
the election tribunals, in furtherance of the APC’s desperation to
take over these states.
Metuh added that he could recall a similar action in July, when
he alleged that the police sealed local councils in Rivers State
and barred caretaker committee members lawfully appointed by
the state government from taking charge of the councils.
While restating that the PDP lost a general election and not a
war, he said that states under the control of his party should not
be seen as occupied territories but part of the Nigerian nation.
He said citizens of such states were not prisoners of war, but
free citizens in a democratic state.
He said , “We invite Nigerians and the international community
to note that never in the history of our democracy have we
witnessed such a divisive government, whose actions and
constitutional violations have so polarised the polity along its
fault lines, while undermining national unity and cohesion, a
development that spells doom for our democracy, if left
unchecked.
“Finally, we wish to state categorically that as citizens of this
country, we can no longer continue to stomach such brazen
attacks on our members and elected officials.
“The PDP will therefore hold several leadership and
stakeholders’ meetings to come up with its response to this
bare-faced assault on our democracy. Enough is enough!”
But the Presidency, in its reaction, said that the PDP did not
know what it was saying.
The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity,
Mr. Femi Adesina, said in a text message to our correspondent
that the PDP had yet to recover from the beating it received from
Nigerians during the last elections.
He said, “The PDP has got to a level of paranoia. While we
ignore their rantings, we also sympathise with them because
they are still reeling from the bloody nose Nigerians gave them
at the polls.
“It takes a long time to recover from such a buffeting, and that is
why they imagine vain things.”
