By Alfaki Musa
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has alleged that the All Progressives Congress (APC) is planning to influence the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal which begins sitting today.
The party’s national publicity secretary, Hon. Debo Ologunagba, told newsmen in Abuja Sunday that the alleged intimidation, harassment, threats, and vicious attacks by APC leaders against Nigerian youth and eminent Nigerian personalities for speaking out are a plot to influence the judiciary.
He alleged that APC is threatened with the weight of evidence against it as well as the continuing refusal by majority of Nigerians to accept the outcome of the flawed presidential election.
The statement reads in part: “There are apprehensions in the public space, having regards to the reputation of certain individuals within the highest level of the APC who have demonstrated capacity and proclivity to compromise democratic institutions in our country.
“It would be recalled that on Friday, May 5, 2023, our party raised alarm over the massively condemned comments by the APC presidential candidate, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, at the commissioning of some judiciary projects in Port-Harcourt, Rivers state, wherein he attempted to corrupt, cultivate and patronise the judiciary.
“More alarming are allegations in the public space of attempts by certain APC leaders to compromise the judiciary with heavy financial inducement and to orchestrate trumped-up allegations of impropriety against judicial officers.
“The PDP calls on the APC and its leaders to immediately come clean and publicly address Nigerians and the world on these disturbing allegations and revelations which are already in the public domain.
“Further to this is the provocative resort by the APC and its leaders to threaten Nigerians with treason for speaking out against the manipulations of our democratic processes by the APC.
“For emphasis, the majority of Nigerians are insisting on the review of the February 25, 2023, presidential election because it was marred by widespread manipulations, open alteration of genuine election results from the polling units, allocation of fictitious figures to the APC, and brazen violation of the provisions of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), the Electoral Act, 2022 as well as INEC Manual and Guidelines by INEC itself in its declaration of a winner of the election.
