The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Tuesday, singled out the All Progressives Congress, APC, for blame in what it called the escalated violence, insurgent attack, and bloodletting in the country.
The APC had accused the major opposition party in the land of “feeding fat and servicing its interests from the pains and anguish of suffering Nigerians who daily face the agony of economic repression, death and violent attacks.”
It also said the “baseless allegations” against its Presidential candidate in the 2019 election by the APC was a ploy to divert public attention “from its atrocities against our country, including compromising our security architecture for selfish purposes.”
In a statement by the party’s spokesman, Kola Ologbondiyan, the party challenged the APC to respond to “reported allegation that its administration terminated the nation’s counter-insurgency operations to satisfy foreign interests, leading to escalated violent attacks and bloodletting in various parts of the country, particularly in the North.”
The statement said, “The APC should explain the assertion by international security expert, Eeben Barlow, who on international television, Aljazeera, told the world that our nation was successfully routing insurgents in the North East before the APC and its administration terminated the counter-insurgency operation to satisfy an alleged American interest that assisted it to manipulate its way to power.
“It is instructive to note that the APC had engaged in an unwarranted attack on the PDP and Atiku Abubakar as well as sponsoring negative divisive publications in the last few days in the bid to divert public attention from this very grave issue.
“Nigerians can now see why insurgents, marauders and bandits, who had been pushed to the fringes under the PDP administration suddenly resurged in the renewed ravaging of communities and killing our compatriots unabated, while the APC and its administration engage in lip service and empty condolence messages.
“Nigerians are aware of how the APC imported political mercenaries, thugs and miscreants from neighboring countries, including the Niger Republic and used them to unleash violence on Nigerians during the 2019 Presidential elections.
“The APC has failed to account for these miscreants, most of who are now unleashing violence as kidnappers, armed robbers and marauders, pillaging our communities without restraint under the APC.
“It is important to observe that the APC had failed to apologize or join other well-meaning Nigerians in forcefully demanding the arrest and prosecution of perpetrators of the mass killings in Benue, Borno, Plateau, Taraba, Kogi, Kaduna, Kano, Jigawa, Katsina, Yobe, Adamawa, Ekiti, Ebonyi, Abia, Nasarawa, Niger and other parts of the country, under its watch.
“Only recently, Edo State governor, Godwin Obaseki accused the APC National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, of always relying on thugs for elections and Nigerians know the devastation thuggery and its associated violence had caused the nation in the last five years of the APC.
“Moreover, instead of clinching on straws by attacking the PDP and Atiku Abubakar, the APC should account for or demand investigation and prosecution of its leaders responsible for the looting of over N14 trillion from federal coffers, including the stolen N9 trillion exposed by the leaked NNPC memo on oil subsidy theft.
“The APC should also account for the N1.1 trillion worth of crude siphoned by its leaders using 18 unregistered vessels, the stealing of over N48 billion meant for the rehabilitation of victims of insurgency.
“It should account for the N33bn National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA saga in which a very top member of President Muhammadu Buhari was mentioned as well as the looting spree in National Health Insurance Scheme, NHIS, and the Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS, under its watch, after which it should head for the dustbin of history where it now belongs.”
