The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Presidential Campaign Organization (PPCO) has alerted that President Muhammadu Buhari and his party, the All Progressives Congress, (APC) are plotting to use the planned nationwide military ‘Operation Python Dance’ to allegedly legitimize his administration’s ploy of using the military to intimidate voters and rig the 2019 Presidential election.
In a statement issued on Saturday by PPCO Director Media and Publicity, Kola Ologbondiyan claimed “the plot is in consonant with the desperation of the Buhari Presidency to foist a siege mentality on the nation ahead of the 2019 general elections, harass voters and create a sense of escalated insecurity, so as to stalemate the electoral process, once it becomes clearer that the All Progressives Congress (APC) was losing”.
He however, revealed that, “investigation shows that part of the plot is to use the military operation as a subterfuge to unleash heavy security presence to intimidate, harass and instil fear in voters in PDP strongholds across the country and pave the way for the allocation of fictitious votes to President Buhari and the APC.
“Further investigation reveals that agents of the Buhari Presidency are working in cahoot with some compromised top officials of the Prof. Mahmood Yakubu-led Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to use soldiers to provide cover for diversion of electoral materials, as well as aid APC agents in their plan to unleash violence and disrupt the electoral process in areas where the PDP is winning, he added.
According to the PDP Campaign Organisation, “In spanning the military operation to February 28, 2019, the Buhari Presidency betrayed its anticipation of public rejection or violence, which can only come when a result that does not reflect the actual wish of the people is announced.
The party rejected it, and further described it as “deliberate attempt by the Buhari Presidency to set the military on collision course with Nigerians, bearing in mind the collateral damage that usually occurs whenever the civilian population clashes with military.
The statement further reads: “Our nation is a democratic state and we are not in a state of emergency that requires the militarization of our electoral process.Our military, which is cherished by Nigerians, should therefore foreclose any attempt by the Buhari Presidency to use it to set our country on fire.
“All that Nigerians desire at this point is to go to the polls and peacefully elect a new President to reposition our nation and not another round of electoral crisis.
The party also insisted that, ” if the authorities believe that military steps are genuinely required to ensure peaceful poll in any part of the country, they should recourse to the constitutional approval of the National Assembly and not making impositions as if our nation is under a military regime.
