The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has told the All Progressives Congress (APC) that its “coup” against democracy in Nigeria cannot stand, in spite of its orchestration of violence, killings and forceful seizure of electoral processes.

The PDP insisted that no amount of blackmail, innuendos, threats and direct attacks by the APC will make it to drop its people-based demands for electoral reforms that will return the country to the democratic practice that engenders respect to the rights of citizens for a free, fair, clean, clear and credible elections.

In a statement on Wednesday by its national public secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, the party alerted that APC’s blackmail against the PDP is part of its diversionary tactics to enable it sustain its “coup” against democracy.

It accused the APC of subverting democracy through the use of state apparatus of power and paid hoodlums to unleash brute force, arbitrary arrests, bloodletting and killings to terrorise and suppress Nigerians, snatch their franchise and continue to seize power with impunity.

“Nigerians can recall the malicious trajectory in how the APC used firearm to seize power in Ekiti State in 2018; unleashed cudgels in the March 2019 governorship election in Kano, and the latest being the unbridling of indescribable bloodletting, forceful invasion of polling units, killing of voters and the horrendous deployment of police helicopter in the November 2019 governorship and senatorial elections in Bayelsa and Kogi states.

“This reign of violence has been followed with annexation of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), alteration of election results, violation of constitutional provisions and threats to institutions of democracy including political parties, the judiciary and civil society groups.

“Such impunity, violations and political brigandage are not part of the tenets of democracy and Nigerians, who have become disillusioned, have continued to express their disenchantment for such bloodstained political process.

“Moreover, the silence of the police hierarchy to the use of police helicopter to attack voters in Kogi State as well as the failure to parade those said to have been arrested for the burning of a PDP Woman Leader, Mrs. Salome Abuh, only point to nothing but suspicions of conspiracy at very high places.

“APC’s ultimate design is to use violence, intimidation, attacks, blackmail and threats against the PDP to frighten Nigerians and scare them from participating in electoral processes, then upset our democratic order and perpetuate a one-party despotic regime in our nation.

This is the reason the APC is averse to our pro-people call for electoral reforms in our country”, said the party.

The PDP, however, asked the APC to know that such plots against the people cannot stand, as Nigerians have seen the directions and will never accept a one-party system with its attendant despotic proclivities.

It, therefore, advised the APC to dismiss the dream of imposing a one-party state as well as its distortions that the PDP will not participate in the Edo and Ondo governorship elections.

The PDP said “such ignoble script cannot succeed, as the PDP remains the corner stone of Nigerians’ participation in the democratic order; hence our unshaken resolve to stand with the people on the insistence for electoral reforms in our country”.

(Daily Times)

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