These are not the best of times for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar as Prince Uche Secondus, the party national chairman has raised an alarm, alleging plots by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to arrest Atiku and some key leaders of the party on trump up charges.
Secondus listed Peter Obi, Senate President Bukola Saraki and House of Representatives Speaker, Yakubu Dogara and the party’s other leaders as some of those marked for arrest.
In a statement by his media aide, Ike Abonyi, Secondus warned that the country would explode any moment the EFCC chairman, Ibrahim Magu continued with such impunity.
Alleging plots to prefer frame up charges against the PDP chieftains, the main opposition party chairman warned that the country is presently sitting on gunpowder.
Prince Secondus cautioned the Acting EFCC chairman, saying that he won’t get away with the hatchet job he has taken upon himself by using instruments of state to harass and intimidate opposition figures.
Secondus said available intelligence indicated that the EFCC chairman was working in cahoots with some prominent chieftains of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
“They are presiding over clandestine meetings and developing strategies for the APC, which is aimed at caging and crushing critical leaders of the opposition.”
The party chairman said aside arrest and detention of the targeted opposition leaders, their family members and business associates have also been lined up for intimidation and harassment, including freezing their business interests and their bank accounts.
He described as an afterthought fabrication, the EFCC’s statement that the two sons of Atiku, whose residence was raided by the commission operatives on Saturday, were not the target of the raid.
Secondus noted the security search on Atiku on November 11, when he arrived in the country from Dubai, saying the country has gone into full blown dictatorship.
“After that embarrassment and harassment aimed at intimidating the candidate and nothing incriminating was found on him, no apology was extended to him as a former number two citizen.”
“They followed it up with the freezing of the bank accounts of our vice presidential candidate as well as that of his friends and family members as part of a large scheme to keep the party distracted from its focus of regaining power in 2019.”
But, the Presidency denied the reports claiming that the Buhari-led government ordered raid on the home of PDP presidential candidate’s son and the alleged blockage of the Obi’s bank accounts and his family.
A statement by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, said the reports are manifestation of the PDP’s growing expertise in fake news.
“The story about the raid ‘ordered by Buhari-led government’ on the home of PDP presidential candidate’s son and the fairy tale on the alleged blockage of the bank accounts of the running mate and his family are both untrue, and should be dismissed as just another manifestation of the PDP’s growing expertise in fake news.”
“Nigerians must be becoming wary by now, of a political party with absolutely nothing to offer in the coming elections and has instead, transformed into a knight in shining armor, slaying the truth.”
“In this so-called transformation, PDP has changed into nothing but to a ceaselessly flowing stream of fake news. It is impossible to find in Nigeria today, anyone propagating fake news more than the PDP. Our advice to Nigerians is: ignore them.”