PDP condemns Gov. Matawalle, APC’s witch hunt

“With the second assault, it has become clear that the APC-led Zamfara state government is bent at ensuring that our party does not have a state secretariat

APC and Governor Bello Matawalle are bent on forcing the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) out of Zamfara amid what it described as political intolerance in the state, says the main opposition party.

On Monday, the party stated this in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, in Abuja.

Mr Ologbondiyan alleged plots by the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Zamafara trying to use state apparatus of power to obliterate the PDP and stifle its constitutionally guaranteed rights in the state.

He alleged that since Governor Bello Matawalle left PDP for the APC, compromised agencies of the state were used to victimise PDP members and other citizens of Zamfara in a bid to “cow them” to submission.

“It is imperative to state that after the decamping of the governor, faithful members of our party immediately worked out strategies to reposition the party to effectively play the role of main opposition in the state,” he stated. “This included acquiring another befitting property to serve as PDP secretariat in the state as our former secretariat was converted to an APC office after the governor defected to their party.”

He added, “Our party secured a property in Gusau, the Zamfara state capital as our state secretariat. However, soon after moving into the property, the landlord terminated our contract.”

According to him, upon investigation, it was discovered that an agency of the Zamfara government had threatened the landlord with the demolition of the property should he continue to accommodate the PDP.

“After a painstaking search, we acquired another property, along Sani Abacha Way, also in Gusau as our secretariat. But to our dismay, the Zamfara Urban and Regional Planning Board invaded the complex and placed a demolition notice on the property,” he said. “With the second assault, it has become clear that the APC-led Zamfara state government is bent at ensuring that our party does not have a state secretariat in Zamfara.”

The party claimed it had “been made aware that the plot is to obliterate the PDP and foist an oppressive one-party system on the state.”

He added that the APC was being threatened by the soaring popularity of the PDP in Zamfara, for which all ways were being sought to frustrate the PDP ahead of the 2023 elections.

He, however, said the PDP could not be cowed or stopped, as it was already enjoying the support and solidarity of the majority of the people of Zamfara. He added that the party had already instructed its legal team to take up the matter in the regard immediately.

He called on pro-democracy, human rights organisations, and other stakeholders in the electoral process to rise in condemnation of the reprehensible act action by the APC in Zamfara.

(NAN)