Chieftains of the three leading political parties for the 2023 presidential election, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the Labour Party (LP), and the All Progressives Congress (APC) have engaged in blame trading over the growing electoral violence in Nigeria.

A member of the PDP, Anthony Ehilebo; LP spokesperson Dele Farotimi; and an APC member, Ogenyi Okpoku spoke on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Thursday.

The PDP had in a press conference earlier accused the APC of instigating pre-election violence in the country ahead of the 2023 general elections. PDP National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, had referenced a video where the presidential candidate of the APC, Bola Tinubu was captured telling party members to grab power at all cost.

Adding to his party’s allegations against the APC, PDP’s Ehilebo also alleged that the APC recruited many people known for fomenting violence in its election campaign council and unleashed them on the oppositions.

“We have come to know APC as a party that dwells on violence. For instance, I am from Edo State and there is a BBC documentary of a self-confessed Black Axe member who has been known in the past to terrorise Edo State, Benin in particular, by the name Tony Kabaka. He is the current APC state youth leader. When you have individuals like this spearhead the APC election machinery, we must raise all sorts of alarm so that we can protect our nascent democracy,” he said.

On his part, Farotimi said the Labour Party is not known for causing violence but has been on the receiving end from both the ruling party APC and the opposition PDP.

The LP spokesperson said, “We have never been accused of any form of violence whatsoever, but we have been the recipients of violence. We receive from the APC and the PDP but more have come from the party in power… It’s not something that started yesterday, it’s a culture and I think what is different this time around is that the people are more interested.”

However, the APC chieftain, Okpoku dismissed all the accusations of violence levelled against his party, and instead accused PDP of fomenting violence but shifting blames on the APC.

“To be frank, it is psychopathic for the PDP to accuse APC of fomenting violence. If you check out the state the these violence are being carried out, especially against INEC facilities, they are APC-controlled states. So, the APC-controlled state cannot foment crisis in its own state. It is the same PDP, knowing fully well that it has no chance of winning the 2023 elections, now decided to foment crisis and when they cause this violence they come out to play the victim,” Okpoku claimed. (Channels TV)

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