administration not to take Nigeria back to the dreaded and
calamitous days of the late Gen. Sani Abacha, when perceived
opponents of the government were targets of rampaging
murderous gangs and Nigeria was turned to a pariah nation
through unbridled human rights abuses.
In a statement issued in Osogbo on Friday by its Interim
National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the
party expressed serious concern over the allegations that the
Jonathan administration is training snipers at the same facility
where the Abacha killer squad was trained; talks of abuse and
misuse of the military and other security apparatus for
personal and political interest as well as the reported placing
of 1,000 people under a 'political watch-list'
It said the party is constrained to take the allegations very
seriously because it emanated from no less a personality than
former President Olusegun Obasanjo, in an open letter he
wrote to his fellow party man, President Jonathan, which has
now been widely circulated in the traditional and Social
Media..
"All Nigerians must be worried by these weighty allegations,
coming less than 15 years after the long-suffering people had
collectively vowed 'never again' to a regime like Abacha's
that sent many innocent souls to their early graves and
dispatched many citizens into forced exile for merely holding
views that were opposed to that of the late dictator's
government.
"We are therefore compelled to call on President Jonathan to
urgently address these allegations, which have already sent
jitters down the spines of Nigerians, especially those who
hold views that are diametrically opposed to the administration's. The allegations cannot and must not be
swept under the carpet, otherwise Nigerians will know who to
hold responsible if perceived opponents of the administration
come to any harm," APC said.
The party however expressed total satisfaction that more and
more people within the ruling PDP are now coming to terms
with the real dangers facing the country under their party
which, despite being in power at the centre since Nigeria's
return to democratic rule in 1999, has only succeeded in
putting the country in reverse gear and is now threatening its
fledgling democracy, following its (PDP's) implosion.
"We are not concerned by the dirty politics in the PDP and the
glaring fact that the behemoth is sinking fast. What bothers us
is the impact that the death throes of this rudderless party will
have on our fragile polity.
"We in the opposition have shouted ourselves hoarse about
the failings of the successive PDP administrations, especially
the Jonathan government, in critical sectors of the economy,
in particular the worsening unemployment that has put the
nation on tenterhooks
"We have said the Boko Haram crisis cannot be resolved by
military onslaught alone and that it must be tackled from its
roots; that corruption has reached an unprecedented level; that
the investments by the oil majors in that sector have dwindled
dangerously; that the discovery of Shale oil in the US
threatens our economy; and that the government must move
fast to check the unprecedented high cases of crude oil theft.
"We have also issued numerous interventions on the
victimization of perceived political opponents of President
Jonathan, citing the case of Gov. Chibuike Amaechi as a
reference point; that the Jonathan administration has taken
Nigerians for granted by ignoring monumental cases of
corruption and even embracing known corrupt officials as
long as their deep pockets can benefit the President's political
machinery, and that the National Conference will not serve
any purpose since it was conceived as a political gimmick
rather than a genuine effort to help lift our country.
"Our party is delighted that these same issues were raised in
the letter by President Jonathan's estranged political
Godfather, his very own party man. We recall that a few days
earlier, another top PDP bigwig and the nation's number four
citizen, Speaker Aminu Tambuwal, had lampooned the
Jonathan administration's apathetic fight against corruption.
"Because truth is constant, gradually but surely, people are
rising above partisanship to join those of us who have been
warning, ceaselessly, that the ship of state is heading for the
rocks because the Captain has decided to ignore the radar and
steer the ship blindly even in turbulent waters. This
jettisoning of partisanship and the coming out of heads that
have been buried in the sand for so long represent a good
omen for Nigeria," it said.
Via: Vanguard
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