The Peoples Democratic Party has accused President Muhammadu Buhari of planning to derail the electoral process and throw the nation into political crisis.
The PDP was reacting to a statement credited to the president on threat to deal with those planning to hijack ballot boxes.
At a meeting of APC leaders in Abuja on Monday, President Buhari had said: “Anybody who decides to snatch ballot boxes or lead thugs to disturb the election, maybe that would be the last unlawful action he would take… I have directed the police and the military to be ruthless.”
In a statement by Kola Ologbondiyan, its spokesman, the PDP said Buhari resorted to threat having realised that he would lose the election.
He also accused Buhari of mounting pressure on the electoral commission to cancel elections in some states so as to achieve a staggered election.
Tinubu tackles PDP
In a swift reaction to PDP’s criticisms of President Buhari’s statement , the APC National Leader and Co-Chair of the party’s Presidential Campaign Council, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, said:
“ I was in that meeting; the president was just reinforcing the fact that if you you are out there snatching ballot boxes, and causing destruction, you are at risk of your own life.”
Concerning the issue of the election postponement, Tinubu said: “By law we should continue to energise our people. It depends on our resources. Because the Electoral Act allows us to continue to campaign and ask us to stop campaigning only 24 hours before the actual election. And once INEC changed the election date to Feb. 23, they have given us the opening to campaign and energise our people.”
On whether the postponement will affect credibility of INEC he said: “It depends on how it is handled and the new process. How the process is managed? You can convert what appears a crisis, a situation of adversity to an opportunity and progress.
The INEC, under the law, is empowered to postpone, cancel and do whatever is necessary to ensure free and fair election,” Tinubu said.
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