By Bode Olagoke
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has raised the alarm on the desperation of the PDP-led federal government to capture Ekiti state at all cost, alleging that the ongoing clampdown on the nation’s media was part of “a grand strategy to silence Nigerians ahead of its plan to thwart the will of the people of Ekiti and indeed that of all Nigerians.”
In a statement issued yesterday in Abuja by its Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the multi-pronged approach started with the harassment and intimidation of the people of Ekiti to prevent them from coming out to vote on 21 June.
It said: “The pre-meditated violence inflicted on innocent and harmless Ekiti people last Sunday by the police, who have now turned itself to PDP enforcers, is aimed clearly at signaling to the people of the state what they should expect before, during and after the forthcoming election.”
It added: “The clampdown on the media has nothing to do with Boko Haram or any intelligence report. That is a ruse. Journalists do not carry weapons. They only fight with words. In fact, this terror band called Boko Haram has had occasions to threaten the media with attack over their reports exposing the terrorists for what they are. Therefore, the unprecedented and utterly indefensible clampdown on the media is part of a sinister plot that is not unconnected with the elections scheduled for this and next year.
“The PDP-led federal government’s strategy is simple: We must capture Ekiti at all cost, even when we may not have the votes to win the state. After that, we can then dare anyone who alleges rigging or election manipulation to head to court. In the meantime, we must tamper with the freedom of expression and the right to information, of which the media is at the vanguard.”
The party also said “anyone that believes this strategy is far-fetched only needs to look at the groundwork that has been laid for it by the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan, who picked both the Minister of Police Affairs and the Minister of State for Defence from the South-west.”