Forced Registration In Kano, Others Shows APC Is Clinging On Straws – PDP Says
…Commends Nigerians for resisting the ruling party
BY GRACE ANYANWU, ABUJA – The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has described the alleged resort by leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to harassing and threatening Nigerians, particularly civil servants in Kano state, to register as members of the ruling party against their will, as pure political terrorism, symptomatic of a dying party gasping for breathe.
This is as the PDP urged Nigerians to therefore disregard any membership figures that are eventually churn out by the APC as that would only be a product of inflated numbers made up of fictitious names and forced registration.
The PDP noted that the development has further exposed the level of public rejection that is now confronting the party, adding that Nigerians have rejected the APC and will never be intimidated by such threats.
It also said that one can only pity APC leaders over the crushing public apathy against their fraudulent membership registration exercise, for which their Kano state Chairman, Abdulahi Abbas, out of frustration, threatened civil servants and other innocent Nigerians in the state, to join the party or lose all benefits and opportunities from the state government.
These were contained in a statement by the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Mr Kola Ologbondiyan in which the party said that it is appalling that after being exposed in their scheme of hiding under their duplicitous membership revalidation and re-registration exercise to inflate their membership register with fictitious figures, the APC leaders are now shamelessly resorting to harassing innocent civil servants and their families to register in the party, against their will.
The PDP further said; “The fact that the APC has been reduced to a situation where it is rather forcing and coercing Nigerians in their supposed strongholds of Kano, Kaduna and Katsina state, who ordinarily should be trooping out enmasse to register, only goes to show that the APC is already dead in their consciousness, having betrayed them in the last six years.
“More importantly, our party condemns the threat issued by the APC as completely unconstitutional, subversive and a criminal act of political banditry.
“The APC leaders also need be made aware that such threats constitute a provocative assault on the constitutionally guaranteed rights of the citizens and this is capable of triggering a serious social unrest with the propensity of derailing our nation’s democracy,” it said.
The PDP further said that after due considerations, it became expedient to call on the national leadership of the APC to call the Kano Chapter to order as Nigerians are not ready to stomach the littlest of victimization against any citizens over their manifest refusal to register as members of APC.
It also said; “The fact is that Nigerians have rejected the APC and such cannot be reversed by fraudulent registration exercise, forced registration or inflated membership register.
“In any case, it will be useful to inform the APC that as they are busy coercing people and forging figures, millions of Nigerians are quietly trooping into our offices across the states, well ahead of the commencement of our official membership drive, to register with the PDP”.
