The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Nasarawa State has been charged with inciting racial and religious tensions after a recent Court of Appeal ruling that validated Governor Abdullahi Sule’s victory.
Mr. Peter Ahemba, the governor’s senior special assistant on public affairs, brought up the issue in Lafia yesterday.
Ahemba accused the opposition party of trying to stage-manage a protest in Lafia over the latest ruling in order to undermine and blackmail the judiciary. He made this accusation in a statement he sent to journalists.
He claimed that during the “stage-managed” demonstration, the “sponsored individuals” operating under the banner of the “Coalition of Indigenous People of Nasarawa State” referred to certain state residents as “foreigners,” which amounted to stoking ethnic strife in the in the state where the people have coexistence peacefully all their lives.
He claimed that despite repeated warnings from security authorities to avoid from plunging the state into crisis, the PDP had persistently followed the hazardous route beginning with the electioneering activities ahead of the state’s governorship election on March 18.
He claimed that during the last governorship election petition tribunal hearings, the party had also launched an attack on the judiciary. He also added that the stage-managed demonstration was just another ruse to get sympathy from the public and damage the reputation of the judiciary.
“The recent stage-managed protest against the Appeal Court judgement by a group of sponsored individuals under the aegis of ‘Coalition of Indigenous People of Nasarawa State’ as a calculated attempt to discredit the courageous, sound and firm judgement of the Appeal Court and blackmail the nation’s judiciary for choosing to look at the appeal brought before it by the Governor on its merit rather than primordial sentiments.
“The call on the International Community to intervene in the internal affairs of the state and tagging some ethnic groups as foreigners is laughable and has further exposed the opposition PDP of its ethnic agenda in the politics of Nasarawa State. The PDP as a party and its leaders must be reminded that the state is highly diverse in terms of ethnic and religious beliefs and that no ethnic group or religion has the capacity to produce the governor of the state without the support of the others.
“We therefore condemn this show of desperation for power and urge security agencies in the state to note this dangerous rhetoric hovering very close to instigating hate amongst citizens by the opposition PDP and its sponsored groups in the state.
“It is also laughable that the PDP sponsored coalition alleged external interference in the affairs of the state when the opposition party relied solely on external forces to acquire power having been rejected by the electorates at the governorship poll. It is public knowledge how the PDP sought and got the support of some unsuspecting individuals and organizations within and outside the country on the basis of sentiments in its quest to snatch the mandate given to Governor Sule and his party, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), “Ahemba stated.