The African Democratic Congress Presidential Campaign Council, ADC-PCC has raised alarm that there will be more attacks on opposition parties in the coming weeks, and it plans to seek the intervention of the international community should the government fail to tackle the trend.
The Council also accused the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC of allegedly manipulating the judiciary and deploying security agencies against opposition parties in a desperate bid to retain power.
Director of Media and Publicity of the ADC-PCC, Kola Ologbondiyan, stated this in Abuja, warning that the growing attacks on opposition members and supporters across the country posed a serious threat to Nigeria’s democracy.
Ologbondiyan specifically cited the alleged killing of several members of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC in Delta State, following an attack on the party’s campaign venue by suspected APC thugs.
The campaign spokesperson said the incident was part of a disturbing pattern of violence against opposition parties, particularly members of the ADC, NDC and Allied Peoples Movement, APM, in Kaduna, Kogi, Katsina, Kebbi and Sokoto states.
The Council further raised concerns over the preparedness and neutrality of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, alleging that the commission’s voter register database had been compromised and that APC sympathisers had been deployed to sensitive positions within the electoral body.
Ologbondiyan also expressed particular concern about the alleged involvement of a serving director of a security agency in the APC Presidential Campaign Council as Co-Director of National Security and Intelligence, describing the development as a violation of the law establishing the agency.
According to him, the alleged use of state institutions against political opponents reflects a government more interested in retaining power than submitting itself to a credible electoral contest.
The ADC-PCC maintained that the alleged manipulation of judicial processes and electoral institutions would not guarantee President Tinubu’s re-election, warning that Nigerians would resist any attempt to impose a president through what it described as compromised judicial decisions or electoral fraud.
The Council also urged the international community, civil society organisations, religious leaders and traditional institutions to pay closer attention to what it described as the deteriorating political and security environment in the country.
It warned that silence in the face of alleged political violence could embolden those undermining democratic institutions.
The ADC-PCC equally appealed to security agencies to remain politically neutral, stressing that their allegiance should be to the Constitution and the Nigerian people rather than any political party or individual.
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Editor: Terverr Tyav
