by Ranti Joseph
The opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) had initially accused the Goodluck Jonathan administration of sponsoring ethnic militias to incite trouble before, during and after the forthcoming general elections.
The APC alleged that the N9 billion recently paid out to some ex-militants and ethnic militias was aimed at mobilizing them to scuttle the polls.
In a statement issued in Lagos on Sunday by its National Publicity Secretary, Lai Mohammed, the party said the protests by MASSOB last week seeking the sack of INEC Chairman, Attahiru Jega, was coordinated by the administration as part of its continuing efforts to sabotage the elections.
“A profligate government that has been bribing people with dollars and ferrying huge funds around practically to buy votes has outdone itself by paying out all of N 9 billion to a few Nigerians, with less than three weeks to the elections. Shortly after the payment, some self-serving groups started organizing protests that, for all intents and purposes, are being orchestrated to scuttle the polls. This is a shameful show by the federal government,” APC had said.
In reaction to the claims, the Peoples Democratic Party Presidential Campaign Organisation (PDPPCO) dismissed as false, the claims by the All Progressives Congress (APC) that the Goodluck Jonathan administration is sponsoring ethnic militias to disrupt the scheduled March 28 and April 11 general elections.
The Director of Media and Publicity of the President’s campaign office, Femi Fani-Kayode, who reacted in Abuja on Sunday, also justified the employment and compensation given to families of the victims of the Nigerian Immigration Service employment tragedy, saying that the APC’s criticism of the gesture was unfortunate.
“Once again, Lai Mohammed has indulged in lies on behalf of his lying party, the APC. It is not true that the PDP or the Federal Government is sponsoring ethnic militias. It is also not true that N9 billion has been allocated for that purpose. It is rather the APC that has consistently supported and sponsored the Boko Haram both in substance and in their utterances over the last few years. This recourse to telling a lie every day by the opposition party will not in any way assist them in achieving their objectives. We will remain focused on the issues. We will talk about their weaknesses and we will also talk about the achievements of President Goodluck Jonathan on why it is that it is important that he is re-elected back into power on March 28. That is our focus,” he said.
“We have said it before and we will say it again: these people have become prisoners of their own delusions; they have become victims of their own hallucinations and fantasies. They have become paranoid such that they are sleeping and hiding under their beds. They are running from their own shadows and what we are witnessing is simply the judgment of God on them. They have lost their peace. They are running when nobody is chasing them and that is why they are saying these things. It is really is a pity that it has degenerated to this point. But the fact of the matter is that no serious-minded persons will take them seriously when they talk like this,” he added.
