‘President unleashed thugs on Lagos residents,’ APC alleges

The opposition party made reference to a March 16 rally during which pro-Jonathan youths and members of the Oodua People’s Congress (OPC) demanded the resignation of Attahiru Jega, the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The APC expressed its sentiments via a statement released on Tuesday, March 17, by its National Publicity Secretary, Lai Mohammed.

The statement reads:

“They said we are raising false alarm. But just as we had alerted Nigerians, the Jonathan Administration’s sponsored protest took place, with dire consequences for residents.”

“However, the President’s chances in the forthcoming elections suffered a collateral damage as the nine-billion-Naira-powered protest backfired, with even supporters of the President being forced to have a rethink due to the massive scale of the lawlessness and brigandage that took place during a supposedly peaceful protest.”

The APC also alleged that President Jonathan is also planning to sponsor protests against its National Leader, Bola Tinubu.

“During the forthcoming demonstrations, the protesters have been told to carry placards asking the EFCC to probe the allegations made against Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the deceitful, ill-intentioned and irresponsible ‘documentary’ that was sponsored by the same Jonathan Administration. Such is the level of President Jonathan’s desperation for re-election that a man who is not on the ballot in the forthcoming elections has become a target of unprecedented mudslinging by his (President’s) Administration.”

“It is a cruel irony that a President who swore to an oath to make the security and welfare of Nigerians his priority has been the same one orchestrating reprehensible acts of violence in the polity, to the detriment of the well-being and safety of his compatriots, just because of re-election desperation.”

”Because they (protesters) were pro-Jonathan, hordes of policemen who could not prevent a deadly robbery, in which three policemen lost their lives in Lagos a few days back, offered massive protection to the OPC members who brandished guns, machetes, clubs and knives openly as terrified Lagos residents scampered for safety.”

”It is noteworthy that the policemen who protected the OPC members during their protest did not stop them from destroying APC posters and other campaign materials, neither did they prevent them from unleashing mayhem on the people. As far as the increasingly-partisan security agents were concerned, everything done in support of President Jonathan is fair.”

“We are therefore alerting all Nigerians as well as the international community to note that President Jonathan himself is the one setting the stage for violence before, during and after the forthcoming polls, despite his tiring platitude that his political ambition is not worth the blood of any Nigerian. From this precarious situation to which the Administration and the PDP have pushed Nigeria, it is but a short cut to Laurent Gbagbo’s post-election Ivory Coast.”

The opposition party also accused Jonathan of taking his desperation for re-election to new heights.