APC Says PDP Should Be Held Responsible If There Is Violence In Kaduna

The opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), is allegedly plotting to cause unrest in Kaduna State, according to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), which has urged security forces to hold party officials accountable for any disruption of law and order.

Before the state’s March 11 governorship election, the APC allegedly purchased name-brand Opel cars and gave gifts to imams in the area to persuade them to preach in favor of the APC’s nominee for governor, Uba Sani. This was according to Yakubu Lere, a representative for the PDP in the state.

Lere also questioned the timing of President Buhari’s voice message pleading with voters to forgive them for the agony the Naira redesign strategy had caused them and vote in record numbers for Uba Sani and other APC candidates on election day.

Even the validity of the Buhari viral video was questioned by the PDP member, who suggested that APC thugs may have, among other things, used technology to alter the voice so that it sounded like Buhari’s.

The PDP “should be held accountable for any breach of peace in Kaduna state before, during, and after the gubernatorial election and one of its spokesmen should be invited by security agents to shed more light on the looming breakdown of law and order that he had previously warned against,” according to a statement from Ibraheem Musa, Director of Strategic Communication for the APC Campaign Council in Kaduna State.

The statement read, “In a petition to security agents, the Assistant Director Public Affairs of its Kaduna state chapter had raised an alarm over possible violence today, ‘’like what happened during juma’at prayers in Katsina last week,’’ when PDP members protested the use of ‘’Islamic clerics.’’

“The petition whose excerpts have gone viral is somewhat ambiguous and lacks clarity, so security agents should ask the PDP spokesman to share his intelligence with them.

“For example, he should mention the people who will be using ‘’Islamic clerics’’ during today’s Jumma’at prayers, and in what ways and manner they will do so. Above all, the spokesman should reveal how the reaction of PDP members will lead to violence.

“Failing to give a satisfactory answer, the spokesman should be charged to court under extant laws of Kaduna state, for giving false information or concealment, defamation, and public incitement.

“Ironically, rather than try to win the people’s support, given its locust years in office which citizens of Kaduna state rejected in 2015, PDP is trying to blackmail its way to office by intimidation, raising the specter of violence and dragging our respected Islamic clerics into the murky waters of politics, in its desperation to grab power during the March 11 gubernatorial election.

“The residents of Kaduna state will not forget the 16 wasteful years of the PDP government in a hurry, when they had nothing to show for the huge statutory allocations that it had received from the Federation Account, in terms of development.

“Instead, the last PDP administration left behind huge debts and pension liabilities, a state divided along ethnoreligious lines and a subnational with very low Human Development Indices.”

The APC Campaign Council continued, “Upon assuming office in 2015, the Malam Nasir El Rufai government reversed these negative parameters, by revamping education, overhauling the health sector, and improving human capital in general.

“In particular, the APC administration has introduced free and compulsory education from primary to secondary levels, sacked incompetent teachers and employed versatile ones, built more schools and classrooms, renovated existing ones as well as provided furniture to public schools. The exercise is ongoing.

“The result of this reform is evident from the performance of our students who have been sitting for external examinations that are being conducted by the West African Examination Council (WAEC) and NECO.

“In 2014, only 34% of our students who sat for WAEC passed with five credits and above when PDP held sway but in 2021, 81.87% got at least five credits, including English and Mathematics.

“In addition, the present administration has built or refurbished a Primary Healthcare Centre in each of the 255 wards of Kaduna state and has put machinery in place to complete the 300-bed hospital that was abandoned by the PDP government.

“Besides, the El Rufai administration had inherited less than 150 doctors when it came on board but right now, it has about 337 of them working for Kaduna State Government, excluding 54 House Officers at Barau Dikko Teaching Hospital.

“The United Nations Deputy Secretary General, Amina Mohammed, has described Kaduna State Government as a trailblazer in its efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs). Similarly, the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning has commended it as the leading state in SDGs attainment in the country.

“These strides in human development and the unprecedented infrastructural upgrade that the present APC administration has achieved in the last eight years, have surpassed the 16 years of PDP’s misrule.

“By the Grace of God and with the support of the good people of Kaduna state, Distinguished Senator Uba Sani, the APC Gubernatorial Candidate, will sustain this positive trajectory when elected Governor.”