Odigie-Oyegun, who stated this during a press conference attended by the party national officers, maintained that “President Jonathan is destroying Nigeria in his obsessive bid for re-election.”
According to him, “all Nigerians must be worried about power with impunity, which is what President Jonathan and his party, the PDP, have resorted to in their desperation to crush the opposition and destroy Nigeria in the process.
“I have called this press conference to address the grave dangers facing Nigerians as a people, our country as a nation and our democracy as our hope, at this very critical time.
“Events in Nigeria in the past few weeks point to a return to the dark old days of state dictatorship, lawlessness, impunity and repression.
“Our freedoms are being emasculated, our economy being run to the ground and our only hope of bringing about change - our democratic expression, is being smothered before our very eyes, all because President Jonathan is so obsessed with re-election in 2015 at all cost that he is destroying not just all our key institutions but, indeed, the entire country.
“At this critical juncture of our history and despite our desire for restraint and mature engagement with President Jonathan and the ruling PDP, it is evident that inaction is no longer an option and we must resist.
“Indeed, keeping quiet in the face of the ceaseless and unrelenting reckless violations of all known laws of the land and the constitution will amount to complicity in the lawlessness and impunity that has become the norm under President Jonathan.
“We know it has been the dream of the ruling PDP to rule for 60 unbroken years, not minding if Nigeria becomes a desert land in the process,” he stated.
Speaking further, the party chairman added that “the evil machinations of the PDP has manifested in Ekiti. It has manifested yesterday (Tuesday) in Adamawa, They have carried it to Nasarawa, and they have Edo, Osun and Rivers in their sights.
“In the states mentioned, all of them, opposition strongholds, President Jonathan and his party have abused national institutions, resorted to a crude use of force and engaged in unprecedented financial inducements to achieve their objectives.
“All these anti-democratic tactics come under the umbrella of power with impunity. But there is a bigger problem.
The party chairman also pointed out that “we have raised the alarm several times that President Jonathan’s obsession with his re-election is a clear and present danger to our democracy. Today, we say this president’s obsession with re-election is threatening the very existence of our nation.”
According to him, “never in the history of our dear nation has any president waged war on the country the way Jonathan is doing,” adding that “never in the history of the country has any president desecrated national institutions like this president is doing to the very institutions that sustain democracy.”
On the impeachment of Adamawa State governor, Murtala Nyako, the party described the act as illegal, adding that it would challenge it in court.
Reacting, the presidency rubbished the accusation by the APC that it was bribing lawmakers in APC-controlled state houses of assembly to impeach their governors, saying the opposition was only jittery, particularly over the forthcoming governorship election in Osun State.
According to the Special Adviser to the President on Political Affairs, Professor Ahmed Rufai, who spoke with the Nigerian Tribune in Abuja, on Wednesday, the allegation “is completely off the mark,” because the lawmakers were able to act for themselves.
The presidential aide added that “the allegation is outlandish, unless they (APC leadership) don’t want to believe that their lawmakers are intelligent enough to handle their states.”
He assured that neither President Jonathan nor the PDP would be distracted by the machinations of the opposition.
Source: Tribune
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