The ruling All Progressives Congress has called on the Department of State Services and other security agencies in the country to investigate the veracity of the claim made by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party that it foiled an alleged attack on its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar.
The appeal is coming barely 24 hours after the spokesman for the PDP, Debo Ologunagba, raised an alarm that the Adamawa residence of Atiku was invaded by gunmen suspected to be members of the Boko Haram.
Ologunagba stated that the alleged sponsored attack was however foiled by men of the Adamawa State Police Command.
A suspect, Jubrila Mohammed, was arrested in connection with the attack in the early hours of Sunday
The PDP spokesman also wondered if the attack had any link with the ruling APC which he accused of allegedly threatening to cause chaos if the outcome of the ongoing election tribunal did not go its way.
Reacting in a statement issued on Tuesday night, the National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Felix Morka, described the allegation as a continuation of the PDP’s ‘vacuous and mindless campaign of calumny.’
Morka disclosed further that following the crushing defeat suffered by the PDP at the last presidential election, the party had resorted to spewing lies and falsehood as an obsessive preoccupation.
“We call on the police, Department of State Services and other relevant security services to investigate the PDP’s wild allegations, invite the PDP leadership to substantiate these claims and bring the perpetrators to justice. This bizarre and senseless allegation comes only days after the same badly ailing party alleged, without a shred of substantiation, that the APC was engaged in a plot to intimidate members of the judiciary seeking to influence the outcome of pending cases before the Presidential Election Petitions Court.
“It is downright irresponsible for the PDP to continuously politicise serious matters of security and national importance for its vain and macabre humour. As an age-old party, this ceaseless display of egregious incivility in the conduct of its affairs is disgraceful and sad. Acts of terror or involvement in a terrorist plot are heinous crimes under the law and the PDP cannot continue to bandy allegations around without justification. Atiku Abubakar is a citizen of Nigeria and deserves the fullest protection of the law. Our law enforcement authorities must protect and investigate any threat to his person, family or assets and prosecute offenders.
“However, Atiku Abubakar’s PDP cannot continue to peddle criminal blackmail and wicked falsehoods in the name of opposition politics, unrestrained and without accountability. Nigerians roundly rejected the PDP at the polls. Rather than engage in some introspection and give the court the time of day to deliver a verdict in the case they have brought challenging the election of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, they have chosen to busy themselves with swimming in an abysmal pool of lies and mischief. While vigorously defending our legitimate and popular election mandate in court, our party will continue to win the hearts and minds of Nigerians through President Tinubu’s strategic programme of social and economic development designed to improve the living conditions of our people,” the statement said.