Rivers: PDP decries APC’s use of police, military on elections

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) decries the unrelenting use of 
security forces, including special police and military units, by the All 
Progressives Congress (APC), to subjugate Nigerians and provide cover 
for their thugs to unleash violence, disrupt polling processes and foist 
fake results at elections.

Such brazen assault on the will of the people, particularly as witnessed 
in the last Saturday’s Rivers state Assembly bye-election, is completely 
provocative, incendiary and has an unlimited capacity to elicit violent 
resistance from the people and derail our hard-earned democracy, 
especially as we approach the 2019 general election.

We invite Nigerians to note that the use of security agencies by the APC 
to aid the subjugation of the people has become a regular practice as 
amply witnessed in the July 14, 2018 Ekiti governorship election, the 
2016 Edo state governorship election, the bye-elections in Kogi, Bauchi, 
Katsina and Cross Rivers and most recently, the River state Assembly 
bye-election, where special police units were used to manhandle voters, 
while providing cover for APC thugs to attack voters, snatch ballot 
boxes and disrupt the election.

The APC, in its desperation, is resorting to this underhand means, 
because it knows that there is no way it can win in any peaceful and 
transparently conducted election in any part of the country, due to the 
public indignation against its dismal performance in the last three 
years.

Our worry as a party, however, is that Nigerians are daily pushed to the 
wall and there is a limit to what they can endure, without resorting to 
violent resistance, particularly in the face of unrelenting subversion 
of their will and freedom to select leaders or representatives of their 
choice.

The APC and its agents in the police and other security agencies should 
therefore bear in mind that they are on collision course with the 
people. Their eventual resistance, if such subversion continues, could 
come with very dire consequences.

The PDP is aware that this resort to violence by the APC is to test-run 
its plans to rig the 2019 general elections and we ask, what shall it 
profit a man to gain political power and set his nation ablaze?

Finally, the PDP cautions all those being used by the APC to know that 
history will never forgive them for these atrocities. They will forever 
be remembered for their ignoble past and have their places in the hall of shame.