The All Progressives Congress (APC) has urged the Jonathan administration
\nnot to take Nigeria back to the dreaded and calamitous days of the late
\nGen. Sani Abacha, when perceived opponents of the government were targets
\nof rampaging murderous gangs and Nigeria was turned to a pariah nation
\nthrough unbridled human rights abuses.
\nIn a statement issued in Osogbo on Friday by its Interim National
\nPublicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party expressed serious
\nconcern over the allegations that the Jonathan administration is training
\nsnipers at the same facility where the Abacha killer squad was trained;
\ntalks of abuse and misuse of the military and other security apparatus for
\npersonal and political interest as well as the reported placing of 1,000
\npeople under a \u2018political watch-list\u2019
\nIt said the party is constrained to take the allegations very seriously
\nbecause it emanated from no less a personality than former President
\nOlusegun Obasanjo, in an open letter he wrote to his fellow party man,
\nPresident Jonathan, which has now been widely circulated in the
\ntraditional and Social Media..
\n\u201dAll Nigerians must be worried by these weighty allegations, coming less
\nthan 15 years after the long-suffering people had collectively vowed
\n\u2018never again\u2019 to a regime like Abacha\u2019s that sent many innocent souls to
\ntheir early graves and dispatched many citizens into forced exile for
\nmerely holding views that were opposed to that of the late dictator\u2019s
\ngovernment.
\n\u201dWe are therefore compelled to call on President Jonathan to urgently
\naddress these allegations, which have already sent jitters down the spines
\nof Nigerians, especially those who hold views that are diametrically
\nopposed to the administration\u2019s. The allegations cannot and must not be
\nswept under the carpet, otherwise Nigerians will know who to hold
\nresponsible if perceived opponents of the administration come to any
\nharm,\u201d APC said.
\nThe party however expressed total satisfaction that more and more people
\nwithin the ruling PDP are now coming to terms with the real dangers facing
\nthe country under their party which, despite being in power at the centre
\nsince Nigeria\u2019s return to democratic rule in 1999, has only succeeded in
\nputting the country in reverse gear and is now threatening its fledgling
\ndemocracy, following its (PDP\u2019s) implosion.
\n\u201dWe are not concerned by the dirty politics in the PDP and the glaring
\nfact that the behemoth is sinking fast. What bothers us is the impact that
\nthe death throes of this rudderless party will have on our fragile polity.
\n\u201dWe in the opposition have shouted ourselves hoarse about the failings of
\nthe successive PDP administrations, especially the Jonathan government, in
\ncritical sectors of the economy, in particular the worsening unemployment
\nthat has put the nation on tenterhooks
\n\u201dWe have said the Boko Haram crisis cannot be resolved by military
\nonslaught alone and that it must be tackled from its roots; that
\ncorruption has reached an unprecedented level; that the investments by the
\noil majors in that sector have dwindled dangerously; that the discovery of
\nShale oil in the US threatens our economy; and that the government must
\nmove fast to check the unprecedented high cases of crude oil theft.
\n\u201dWe have also issued numerous interventions on the victimization of
\nperceived political opponents of President Jonathan, citing the case of
\nGov. Chibuike Amaechi as a reference point; that the Jonathan
\nadministration has taken Nigerians for granted by ignoring monumental
\ncases of corruption and even embracing known corrupt officials as long as
\ntheir deep pockets can benefit the President\u2019s political machinery, and
\nthat the National Conference will not serve any purpose since it was
\nconceived as a political gimmick rather than a genuine effort to help lift
\nour country.
\n\u201dOur party is delighted that these same issues were raised in the letter
\nby President Jonathan\u2019s estranged political Godfather, his very own party
\nman. We recall that a few days earlier, another top PDP bigwig and the
\nnation\u2019s number four citizen, Speaker Aminu Tambuwal, had lampooned the
\nJonathan administration\u2019s apathetic fight against corruption.
\n\u201dBecause truth is constant, gradually but surely, people are rising above
\npartisanship to join those of us who have been warning, ceaselessly, that
\nthe ship of state is heading for the rocks because the Captain has decided
\nto ignore the radar and steer the ship blindly even in turbulent waters.
\nThis jettisoning of partisanship and the coming out of heads that have
\nbeen buried in the sand for so long represent a good omen for Nigeria,\u201d it
\nsaid.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has urged the Jonathan administration not to take Nigeria back to the dreaded and calamitous days of the late Gen. Sani Abacha, when perceived opponents…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20788,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20787","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n