The Osun State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has raised the alarm over the alleged arrest of its top leaders, describing the development “ a threat to democracy”.
Adekunle Akindele, the state caretaker chairman of the party, made the claims on Saturday, March 11, 2023, during a press conference in the state.
Akindele, in a statement tagged ‘Osun Is Under Siege’, said party officials woke up to apparent “rumours” that the state would allegedly be invaded by armed men.
According to him, the armed men would include men of the police and notorious thugs of the All Progressives Congress, APC, imported from Lagos to be disguised as police operatives to cause mayhem and unrest in Osun State.
He alleged that the men were ferried into the state and were received at the private home of a top APC official, who handed the armed men handouts of leaders and members of the PDP to be arrested and detained “for no just cause”.
Akindele added that it was necessary to raise the alarm on an “ongoing unjust, unfair, draconian and dictatorial raid and arrest of PDP leaders across Osun State”.
Ahead of the purportedly planned arrests, the PDP chieftain urged the people of the state to remain calm and go about their lawful business, but should be vigilant and resolute on their resolve to detach themselves from harrowing experiences of the past.
According to him, if APC could not defeat the state since July 16, 2022 governorship election till it was “overwhelmed” in the last National Assembly election, the party would be defeated again.
APC Alleges PDP Has ‘Imported Thugs’ For March 18 State Elections
Ahead of the March 11 governorship and National Assembly elections in Katsina State, the campaign council of the All Progressives Congress, APC, has alleged that the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has hatched plans to import thugs from Kano and Zamfara states to mar the process.
Calling on security agencies, INEC, and the general public to take note of the alleged plot, the Director General of the Katsina APC Campaign Council, Ahmed Musa Dangiwa, at a press conference on Tuesday, March 7, 2023, said: “The Peoples Democratic Party have resolved to foment trouble having realised that they are going to lose the March 11 elections.”
Dangiwa who expressed confidence in an APC victory in the March 11 polls, noted that the party is not afraid of the other contestants, having won all three senatorial seats in the state and nine of the 15 House of Representatives seats.
When asked for evidence of the alleged plot, Dangiwa said: “This is a privilege and confidential information and I am very sure that the security agencies have it by now but it’s good for the entire populace to know also. That is why we have told you this.”
Reacting to the allegation, Alhaji Kabir Yar’Adua, the Director of General, Media, PDP Campaign Council, said the claim is unfounded.
He said: “They are just afraid we will beat them again, just like we did in the presidential election, despite the N11 billion they withdrew from government’s treasury to manipulate the elections.
“No thug is coming in from anywhere. Our thugs are pure ballot papers. That is what we used before and that’s what we will use again to defeat them in the March 11 elections.”
