By Dayo Omoogun
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has come out in very strong terms to rebuff the statements of the main opposition party,
the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and its flagbearer in the 2019 Presidential elections, former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar referring to the statements as concocted alternative facts and lies.
The APC said it “will not be drawn into arguements over the powers of the Department of State Services (DSS) to arrest and rearrest Sowore over his actions and utterances. The constitutional mandate of the DSS already addresses that. Also, the presidency has clarified that the DSS does not necessarily need the president’s permission in all cases to carry out its essential and constitutional responsibilities”
Part of the PDP statement which drew the ire of the party read thus : “Today the world watched with shock as operatives of the Presidency-controlled DSS in a most horrific manner, swooped on the court, held the judiciary to ransom, disrupted proceedings, scared away the judge, chased away lawyers and journalists, attacked and re-arrested persons standing trial within the precincts of the court in a manner that can only be obtainable in Idi-Amin’s Uganda”
Similarly, Atiku had in his statement on the Sowore re-arrest saga said among other things, “Today I am in extreme anguish of spirit having watched the unfortunate drama that played itself out at the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, in which agents of the state caused a commotion in court in order to frustrate a judgement of a court of competent authority. This is unacceptable. It is a rape on the sanctity of the court.”
Never in the history of Nigerian democracy has a judge been treated in this disdainful and brazen attack on not just her person and office, but on the entire judiciary. We are in a democracy, no matter how inconvenient this fact is to the powers that have forced themselves on us, Atiku said.
Both PDP and Atiku in the separate statements condemned the act as undemocratic urging well-meaning Nigerians to speak against it and the international community to take appropriate notice of the incident.
The strongly worded APC reaction signed by its Publicity Secretary Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu went on further to call Atiku’s statement “horrid” asking that he should apologise to Nigerians.
“Atiku in his horrid statement particularly accused the DSS of attacking the presiding judge among other lies being chorused by the PDP and their hirelings. Documentary evidence such as videos and pictures have shown that the tales are a complete ruse until anyone is able to present a contrary evidence.
If Atiku’s intervention was sincere, having realized the truth, he has not deemed it proper to apologise to Nigerians for misinforming them on the incident. Instead, he hangs shamelessly on his lies. A commentator has correctly described Atiku as “the king of the bandwagon”.
The PDP and Atiku, in their dubious attempt at painting the APC government bad by all means, have chosen to exercise no restraint whatsoever in spreading falsehood. We would continue to reiterate the need for Nigerians to be wary of these people who are bent on bringing our country down.”
“The APC, therefore, unequivocally rejects the inciting messages and criminal antics of some individuals and partisans who have embarked on a campaign of calumny against this administration and are calling for a forceful takeover of government. They are cowards and enemies of Nigeria.
We call on Nigerians to look at the issue of Sowore’s arrest and subsequent trial dispassionately and devoid of the skewed narratives and sentiments being propagated by the likes of Atiku and PDP.”