ABUJA – The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has cautioned the All Progressives Congress (APC) that what happened in Saturday by-elections where the ruling party won majority of the seats through intimidation and manipulation won’t happen in the 2027 elections.
The party also said that the elective national convention scheduled for November 15 and 16 in Ibadan, Oyo State, is a settled matter, adding that the plot to hold a parallel convention against the scheduled one is in the realm of hallucination.
The PDP National Publicity Secretary, Hon. Debo Ologunagba, stated this on Tuesday during an interactive session with journalists in Abuja.
He said: “In the night to that election, all members of the PDP, prominent members were arrested. Flip over to Taraba State. Prominent members, including elected members of our party were arrested. We don’t call that an election. And we’ve heard about the arrogance of the APC. What they’ve done with those elections attest to what they want to do 2027.
“But I have a bad news for APC. What happened in those bye-elections, that they call election, will not happen in 2027. Why? The reason is that Nigerian people are wiser. They are hurting. What will be on the ballot in 2027 will be the hunger, will be the uncertainty, will be the insecurity that no money can purchase.
“Only last week, in my little village, the chairman of my party was kidnapped. Now it is so sad that when people get kidnapped in this country, you don’t even talk to police. They say, go and look for the money. It sounds like a new normal. That’s what will be on the ballot.
“Nigerian people will defeat them because they brought hunger to this country. For more than 10 years now, APC had been a point of pain to Nigeria.
“In the previous administration of President Buhari, what did they tell us? They told us they have intervention in agriculture, right? And they demonstrated by lying, by creating a wooden frame somewhere towards the airport, and they call it Pyramid of Rice. It turned out to be Pyramid of Lies.”
Asked on the alleged plot to hold a parallel convention, the party said, “We cannot be aware of a non-existing thing. And you said, these speculation, that’s your word.
“And that’s indeed a speculation. How do you have a national convention? There is a process and we’re a party of process indeed. And what we do is that we follow the constitution of our party.
“Interestingly, the process has started, we have been in sync with our regulator, INEC. INEC has been attending all the meetings.
“They are witness to all the things we’re doing. That might be a media hype, people testing the waters. In fact, it does not exist. The local organising committee is working hard. The venue committee, they’re working already ahead of time. Even before the inauguration of those sub-committees, they’re already working. And we’re methodical in the things we do.
“So it’s in the realm of conjecture probably. I think it would be in the realm of hallucination. And this train has moved on. It’s gone past the bus stop. We’re actually in Ibadan, as I speak.”
By Samuel Ogidan @Independent
