The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has told the All Progressives Congress (APC) that its resort to blackmail, twisting of facts and fabrications cannot sway Nigerians from the truth of their culpability in the current impasse at the National Assembly.
The PDP said Nigerians are already aware of how the APC has been frustrating the National Assembly by creating hitches, illegal impeachment processes, physical blockade of access to the parliament and besieging of the official residence of Senate President and his deputy.
A statement on Friday by the spokesman of the PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan said Nigerians know those who set security agents after federal legislators, set parliamentarians against one another and those who have been chasing lawmakers around the country with tons of money as bribe, just to illegally change the leadership.
The statement said, “We are not amazed that the APC, in its characteristic shambolic denials, will turn around to point accusing fingers at our repositioned party and members for the situation in the National Assembly, when the echoes of their open threats, tantrums, verbosity and loquaciousness against our legislators are yet to evaporate from the public space.
“The APC is pretending not to remember that the Buhari Presidency deliberately kept the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) budget submitted to it since February till July when it presented it to the National Assembly and curiously demanded that the fund be vired from the constituency project fund of lawmakers.
“Nigerians will recall that as a patriotic and responsible party, the PDP raised the flag and pointed out that bringing the budget in July, at the time the National Assembly was already going on annual vacation, was rather late and asking that the fund be vired from constituency project fund was sinking
The INEC budget and the entire 2019 electoral process in a needless controversy. The APC and the Buhari Presidency ignored this wise counseling.
“Furthermore, the APC in it deception fails to note that Nigerians are aware that it is President Buhari that is holding the nation to ransom by refusing to sign the Electoral Act Amendment bill, already passed by the National Assembly, just because the amendment checked the machination which APC intend to deploy to rig the 2019 general elections.
“Moreover, relevant National Assembly committees have been having interface with INEC over the budget presented by the President. Except for the sinister intent of the APC to shut down our National Assembly and bring forth a totalitarian system of government, there is nothing deserving of the wailing of the APC to reopen the chambers of the National Assembly at its instance. The rules for reconvening the chambers of the National Assembly are extant.
“Also, since the PDP told its members to rise in defense of democracy and stop the rigging and vote buying of the APC, the ruling party has gone hysterical and making all manners of spurious and diversionary allegations, but it will be instructive for the APC to accept that it has failed Nigerians and the people have resolved to vote them out, come February, 2019”.