PDP accuses President of supporting APC attack on Abdulsalam peace committee

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has accused President Muhammadu Buhari of supporting an attack on the Abdulsalami Abubakar-led peace committee by the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The committee met with Buhari last week and reportedly urged him to tread softly in his planned probe of the Goodluck Jonathan administration.

After the meeting, the APC released some figures allegedly looted by the Jonathan government and lashed out at those who were trying to stop the probe.

In a statement issued on Sunday, August 16, 2015, by National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, the PDP accused the APC of intolerance and the Buhari led administration of insensitivity.

The statement reads:

“The intolerance of the APC and the glaring insensitivity of this government, in spite of the outcries of well-meaning Nigerians against their undemocratic leanings, raise fears about the future of our democracy and the general health of our dear nation.”

“For example, how can we begin to explain the venom and disparagement with which the APC has been attacking our highly revered national leaders in the National Peace Committee, which has as members, former Head of State, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, the Sultan of Sokoto, His Eminence, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar, respected clerics; Archbishop John Onaiyekan and Bishop Matthew Hassan Kuka, retired justices of superior records as well as others highly respected patriotic Nigerians, for daring to counsel Buhari’s government on some observed undemocratic tendencies and processes.”

“The crass attacks are more astonishing, considering the much appreciated role these great Nigerians played in ensuring a peaceful and violence free 2015 general elections.”

“This is especially as we have no reason to believe that such weighty attacks from the President’s party can come without his approval, more so as the APC spokesman, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, who authored the statements was not part of the meeting between the President and the Peace Committee.”

“For instance, how can this government explain the fact that a major institution of democracy like the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has been deliberately debilitated to the extent that it can no longer perform its statutory responsibility for lack of quorum?”

“Also, of grave concern is the adamant stance of this administration in running a government without the statutory components of a full cabinet as prescribed by the constitution, even when the negative consequences of this strange and totalitarian tendency are taking serious toll on the economy and the polity in general.”

“The PDP and indeed all discerning Nigerians are therefore left with no other option than to conclude that there is a clear agenda to undermine critical institutions of democracy, intimidate Nigerians and pave way for dictatorship in the land.

“In view of the developments, the PDP, as a party that nurtured and sustained democracy in Nigeria for 16 years, beckons on all lovers of democracy within and outside the country, to rise up to the occasion and impress it on President Buhari and his APC to imbibe, in its totality, the tenets of democracy and the rule of law in the general interest of our dear nation.”

“In raising this alarm about disturbing national issues, we however wish to reiterate our earlier position that the PDP, as a responsible and patriotic political party, is not in anyway averse to the fight against corruption, as long as it is carried out within the ambits of the due process of the law.

“Finally, we call on some well-meaning Nigerians who have found themselves in the APC, especially, those who at one time or the other, were pupils of the teachings and visions of the founding fathers of the PDP, to rise above the shallowness of their temporary enclave and join in this major defence of democratic ethos”.