Moments ago, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), reacted to the threats made by Oba of Lagos against Igbos in Lagos.
In the statement signed by the National Publicity Secretary of PDP, Olisa Metuh, they expressed their disappointment in the Oba of Lagos.
The statement:
The leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)
condemns in the strongest possible terms the emerging height of political
recklessness in Lagos and Ekiti states ahead of Saturday’s governorship and
House of Assembly elections and calls on all Nigerians to stand up against such
anti-democratic tendencies.
The senseless and unpatriotic impeachment move
against Governor Ayo Fayose by out-going APC state legislators and the barbaric
death threats on non-indigenes in Lagos by the Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu
if they vote for the PDP candidate, Mr. Jimi Agbaje ascend to a height of
unruliness that should not be accommodated.
The PDP totally and unequivocally rejects the flimsy
and unsubstantiated allegations concocted by the APC legislators against
Governor Fayose. We state in very clear terms that we will stand with him and
bear our full weight in defense of the mandate freely given to him by the
people of Ekiti state.We invite all lovers of democracy and the
international community to note the antics of APC and the deliberate plot to
destabilize the polity even when it is yet to assume power.In the same vein, it is indeed most unfortunate that
a royal father of the status of the Oba of Lagos should attempt to drag the
revered traditional institution into partisan politics to the level of
threatening innocent Nigerians with the view to prevent them from freely
exercising their constitutionally guaranteed right.Our response to the Oba of Lagos is that he cannot
play God and can never be God. God owns the universe and every part of it and
can never share His glory with any human no matter how highly placed. We
therefore call on all Nigerians in Lagos state; all Igbos, Hausas, Yorubas and
people of other tribes; all northerners and southerners; all Christians and
Muslims to turn against this unpatriotic stance, by coming out enmasse to vote
for the PDP candidate, Mr. Jimi Agbaje on Saturday.Undoubtedly, this anti-Nigeria position reminds of
the 2013 inhuman and callous arrest, detention and eventual ‘deportation’ of
non-indigenes by the APC-led government of Lagos state and confirms fears that
the APC is indeed on a mission to destroy our national unity, balkanize the
nation and obliterate the personal freedom Nigerians enjoy today.Already, the APC has started terrorizing supporters
of the PDP with vows to make life unbearable for them when it eventually
assumes power. Our investigation reveals that many of our prominent supporters
have been marked. The process has already started with threats to the life,
family and business of the Chairman of the Transformation Ambassadors of
Nigeria (TAN), Dr. Ifeanyi Ubah for supporting PDP candidates and helping
non-indigenes win some Lagos seats in the National Assembly on the platform of
the our great party.Indeed, if this threats on a duly elected state
governor and innocent Nigerians constitute the picture or foretaste of the
order of the day when the APC finally assumes power at the center, then the
nation is in serious danger. However, the PDP states in very unambiguous terms
that Nigerians would not accept such under any guise whatsoever.This is more so because in the last 16 years, our
citizens from all walks of lives have seen civility and decorum under the
PDP-led administration and would not accept any attempt by anybody to institute
a reign of terror in the country.We therefore urge General Muhammadu Buhari as the
leader of the APC to call his members and supporters, particularly in Lagos and
Ekiti to order; especially bearing in mind that it was the peaceful atmosphere
and the level playing ground nurtured by the PDP-led administration that created
the room for his emergence at the presidential polls.Our country cannot at this moment afford to slide
into anarchy, reign of terror and deliberate schemes to divide the people for
selfish political reasons.The PDP will completely resist all anti democratic
forces from any quarters. We therefore charge Nigerians, especially those in
Lagos and Ekiti states respectively to stand up fearlessly and reject the
unpatriotic stance of the Oba of Lagos and the undemocratic move to dismantle
the mandate given to Governor Ayo Fayose by the people.Signed:Olisa MetuhNational Publicity Secretary