The All Progressives Congress (APC) says it has uncovered what seems like a “grand and serpentine plot” by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Presidency to rig the 2015 general elections, especially the presidential poll, and also to destabilise Nigeria.
In a statement issued in Lagos on Sunday by its Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the multi-faceted strategy that is being employed by the “diabolical duo of the PDP and the Presidency, in their unbridled desperation to win the 2015 elections at all cost, includes suppression of votes in areas where the president’s chances are slim, using the Police and the Military.”
They, according to the APC, also plan to use what they have tagged a ‘Third Force’ to bamboozle Nigerians and project the image of a performing Presidency, even when they admit that the current public perception of government is less than salutary because of its weakness and lack of vision; engage in the destabilisation of the APC using moles and fifth columnists; instigate chaos in the South-West using what they called the ‘Old Afenifere Guards’ as well as infiltrate and weaken socio-cultural and socio-political organisations in areas they deemed to be unfavourable to the president.
Shockingly, the party said, the PDP/Presidency’s grand plot also did not exclude even the PDP itself, as they are pursuing a strategy of decisively and ruthlessly purging from the ranks of the party’s inner decision-making caucus all recalcitrant members, including governors and House of Representatives members.
“The dogged pursuit of this action of dealing with supposed recalcitrant members has led to suspensions, expulsions and alienation of some PDP members, and it was the immediate trigger of the collapse of the party of tattered umbrella. After all, it is said that a house divided against itself cannot stand,” APC said.
Elaborating on what it described as the satanic plot, the party said the North-East and the North-West have been singled out as areas where votes must be suppressed in 2015, by creating an enabling environment for the deployment of ‘special forces’ in the run-up to the 2015 elections.
“Simply put, they intend to launch police/military actions in the run-up to 2015, to ensure most of the registered voters in the zones are disenfranchised.
“The reason these two geo-political zones have been singled out for ‘vote suppression is because of what the PDP/Presidency called the ‘voting demographics’ in the zones in 2011. The North-West had 18,900,543 registered voters in 2011 while the North-East had 10,038,119. By contrast, the President’s ‘safe support base’ of South-South and South-East had 8,937,057 and 7,028,560 respectively, the total of which was less than that of the North-West alone!
“The PDP/Presidency therefore believe that unless the votes in these two zones are suppressed, and those of the South-West (14,298,356) stifled one way or the other, the chances of the President winning re-election are very poor. Needless to say that these three zones (NE, NW and SW) are considered to be hostile to the President, hence must be tamed.”
On the ‘Third Force’, APC said it involves railroading unsuspecting credible and independent-minded Nigerians with deep knowledge of, and extensive penetration of the media, civil society, labour, youth, women and ethnic nationalities into the plan, in which they will be given scripts written by the government and sent out to inundate the airwaves and the print media, posing as experts and public analysts to peddle lies and reel out statistics that have no bearing on the standard of living of the average Nigerian.
The party claims that the most dangerous aspect of the plot is the determined attempt by the PDP/Presidency to constrict the democratic space by moving against the main opposition party, which they regard as a ‘real threat’ to the President if it (the party) does not implode or forced to break up before 2015.
The strategy to achieve this, according to the APC, is multi-pronged: The PDP/Presidency will use those they called fifth columnists, disillusioned party members and ‘deep cover plants’ to fracture the APC; Play up clash of ambitions among its leaders, as well as create and empower a new anti-APC political force in the South-West, comprising the old Afenifere guards whom they described as spent and disillusioned forces, but who can be manipulated to achieve the desired objective of neutralizing the APC; and to revive some dormant political forces.
While APC claims not to be bothered by the desperation of the PDP/Presidency to engage in unfair and foul means to win elections, it admits to being astounded that a democratically-elected President will resort to actions that are far from democratic just to retain power at all cost.
“The PDP/Presidency should know that no power in the world can stop an idea whose time has come. For Nigeria, this is the time for change, and change will come in spite of the shenanigans of the devilish duo. Our hope is that these desperadoes do not destroy the country in their rabid ambition,” the party said, imploring Nigerians to be vigilant in the days, weeks and months when the PDP/Presidency will begin to roll out the grand plot.