The opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has reacted to Sunday’s list of 23 new names of alleged looters of the treasure released by the Federal Government.
The list released by the Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, contained mainly names of members of the party, which the party said is an attempt to portray the party in bad light before Nigerians.
In a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, PDP said that the list was released to justify a clampdown on its members by the Federal Government and weaken its chances before the electorate in the 2019 election.
The statement read, “The first leg of this scheme is to commence a vicious intimidation and harassment of PDP members who have refused to succumb to pressure to join the APC in their undemocratic quest to create room for a one party state in Nigeria.
“This will be followed by arrests, detention as well as jailing of members of the opposition and others perceived to be opposed to the interests of the APC ahead of the elections.
“It is important to state that the trajectory of our political history neither provides a space for a one party state nor a self-succession shenanigan that seeks occupation of political offices without elections.
“The PDP, which grew our democracy to become sustainable and successfully handed power to the opposition after the 2015 general election, has a responsibility to ensure that democracy and the application of its tenets flourish without let in our country.
“The PDP and the majority of Nigerians, rallying under our repositioned platform, will never be intimidated or cowed on the principles of democracy.
“All we are saying is that the APC and its Federal Government must provide good governance and live up to its campaign promises of eradicating corruption, vanquishing insurgency and bringing our currency to the value of one naira to one US dollar, among others.
“We want the APC and the federal government to know that this country belongs to all of us and that this plot against the people will be firmly resisted not only by the members of our party but also by generality of Nigerians and the international community at large.”