Luther King’s Award: PDP Seeks Presidency Officials’ Arrest, Prosecution
BY SEGUN ADEBAYO, ABUJA – The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is demanding the arrest and prosecution of Presidency officials involved in what it described as a phony award to President Muhammadu Buhari.
According to the opposition party, recent statement by that the family of human right activist, late Martin Luther King Jr conferred an award on the President is a ‘national disgrace and embarrassment’.
The PDP said it is important for the Presidency and the APC to save Nigeria from further embarrassment by shunning any planned endorsement stunts and fabricated performance indices, that may be orchestrated by political jobbers, maintaining that Nigerians have embraced the repositioned and rebranded PDP in their collective quest to end the APC’s ‘misrule and restore a sincere, purposeful and people-oriented government come 2019.’
In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, on Thursday, the PDP accused the President’s handlers and the All Progressives Congress (APC) of distressing desperation in their bid to procure international endorsement, ahead of the 2019 general elections.
It said the fake award and lies told by the Presidency not only smack of extreme anxiety with the governing party, but also represent an embarrassing act that has made Nigeria a laughing stock among the comity of nations.
PDP said it is shocking that the King Center has distanced itself from the award, noting that, “the award given to President Buhari of Nigeria was not given by The King Center, at the request of The King Center or by the children of Martin Luther King Jr”.
“It is now clear that this sinking, incompetent and deceptive APC administration, in their desperation, can fabricate and stage-manage anything, including name-dropping of international figures and agencies, in their desperate attempt to delude Nigerians, once again, now that the 2019 general election is fast approaching.
“Nigerians have discovered that having failed to gain any endorsement from reputable international figures such as Bill Gates, the APC and the Presidency have now cheapened the nation by resorting to this despicable act of name-dropping of world-renowned human right activist, Dr. Martin Luther King jr, further dragging down our once sterling image before the comity of Nations”, the statement said.
The PDP spokesperson further said that not many Nigerians believed in the authenticity of the award, as the “Buhari-led administration, by its undemocratic and anti-people proclivities, including records of violations of rights of citizens, is not deserving of any form of recognition by any human rights group, let alone the family of the world-acclaimed Martin Luther King Jr.”
He said the PDP has been “vindicated in its stand that the APC government is not only hypocritical but overtly deceptive and must not be trusted.”
The PDP said it still stands by the statement issued earlier this year, warning Nigerians and the international community to be wary of information and claims coming from the APC and the Presidency, particularly on endorsements and performances indices.
It therefore demanded the immediate ‘arrest, investigation and prosecution’ of all the Presidency officials involved in the ‘messy scandal and crime’ against Nigeria, just as the party charged the Presidency to urgently shed its proclivity for lies in the nation’s overall interest.
