The National Chairman, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Uche Secondus has described President Muhammadu Buhari’s directive to security agencies to shoot at sight anyone found snatching ballot box as a declaration of war on Nigerians.
Secondus, in a statement by his media aide, Ike Abonyi, claimed going by the directive, leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) have been empowered to move about with the military at their respective constituencies.
He said this will enable them harass and intimidate staff of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the opposition agents, so as to scare them away and create avenues for thugs to replace result sheets.
The PDP chairman noted that President Buhari has never been sincere in conducting a free and fair election, stating that it was the reason he refused to sign the amended Electoral Act which would have facilitated a credible polling in the country.
“The president’s confirmation that he has directed the service chiefs to kill Nigerians is nothing but a pre-determined script hatched by the ruling party to create voter apathy and implement their result replacement plans using thugs protected by the military.
“In all democracies world over, elections are civil matter that is usually handled by civil security like Police and wondered why the involvement of our military in this matter when they have enough security challenges to tackle. “
He said it was shocking that a president that has failed to take action in the numerous security challenges in the country, particularly in Benue, Plateau, Zamfara among others, would be threatening voters.
Also reacting, the party, said the directive to security agents was a direct call for jungle justice.
The opposition party, in a statement by its spokesman, Kola Ologbondiyan, stated that the Presidency and the APC were plotting to trigger widespread political crisis, so as to derail the democratic process and plunge the country into anarchy.
The party noted that President Buhari’s directive “is indeed a license to kill, which should not come from any leader of any civilized nation.”
The opposition party added that it hoped President Buhari’s directive to security agencies is not a camouflage for the fake soldiers allegedly mobilized by the APC to shoot at innocent Nigerians, snatch ballot boxes and execute their rigging plans on the election day.
“President Buhari must however bear in mind that his resort to threats and scaremongering will not deter Nigerians from coming out en-masse to vote him out of office on February 23. ¡¡We are aware that President Buhari, who had earlier boasted that nobody can ‘unseat’ him, is bent on using every dictatorial and tyrannical act to truncate the process of a free, fair and credible election.”