In a statement issued yesterday
by the Kogi state government, the Peoples Democratic Party has cried foul at
what they termed witch hunting of their members by the Buhari led government.
Punch reports...
The Peoples Democratic Party has
cried out that the ruling All Progressives Congress-led Federal Government
under President Muhammadu Buhari had been treating members of the main
opposition party as ‘criminal and prisoners of war.’
The PDP National Publicity
Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, accused Buhari’s government of engaging in
witch-hunt of PDP members under the pretext that it was probing acts of
corruption.
A statement by the Kogi State
government on Tuesday quoted Metuh as speaking while addressing PDP
stakeholders in Lokoja, the state capital.
The PDP spokesman condemned the
Federal Government’s alleged arrests, intimidation and denial of PDP members
who served in the ex-President Goodluck Jonathan administration their
fundamental human rights.
He said regardless of the alleged
intimidation and victimisation of PDP members by the Buhari government, PDP
would win in the forthcoming governorship elections in Kogi and Bayelsa states.
Metuh said the APC administration
had been busy victimising public officials in the Jonathan administration
rather than provide a policy direction for Nigerians.
Metuh said, “We are being treated
as if we are criminals or prisoners of war. We are being treated as if we are
refugees. We are not afraid; we have faith in our strength and unity. We have
faith in the peace, unity and progress of Nigeria.
“If the ruling party believes
that there is anyone who has served in the Federal Government and is guilty of
corruption practices, they are free within the law to investigate as long as
they go through due process and observe the rule of law.
“PDP is not afraid of the
intimidation, harassment and arrest of its members by the administration of
President Muhammadu Buhari, if the arrest is done within the confines of the
law.”
In another interview with one of
our correspondents in Lagos, Metuh said the opposition PDP had left Nigerians
to judge the activities of Buhari’s administration in the management of the
country’s affairs.
It said that Nigerians would soon
confirm if the government of the APC has brought any change to their national
life.
Metuh, who spoke on the 33-man
delegation that followed the President to his current four-day state visit to
the United States of America, said the opposition party would leave the huge
presidential entourage for Nigerians to judge “whether indeed there is a change
in that aspect.”
Former President Goodluck
Jonathan had been criticised for embarking on foreign trips with large numbers
of people in his entourage.
The Punch had reported
exclusively on December 7, 2012, how Jonathan spent billions of naira of
taxpayers’ money on foreign trips despite his promise to cut down on such trips
earlier in January.
While Metuh stated that the PDP
would not comment on the number of people on the trip with Buhari, he said as
the President of Nigeria, Buhari knew the reason for “that large crowd.”
The PDP spokesman also said
Nigerians would soon know whether the change was “moving forward or moving backward.”
Metuh said, “Let Nigerians judge.
We will not be guided by the misinformation, misdirected attacks, insults and
abuses bequeathed by the former opposition party.
“Now that that they are the
ruling party, we intend to educate them on the proper way of being in the
opposition. We will restrict ourselves to constructive criticism of government
policies and programmes, wherein we will offer options and alternatives.”
On Buhari’s entourage to America
are Governors Umaru Tanko al-Makura (Nasarawa State), Adams Oshiomhole (Edo),
Kashim Shettima (Borno) and Abiola Ajimobi (Oyo), among others
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