The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has rejected the no-fly-zone imposed on Zamfara State, following incessant bandit attacks on communities across the troubled state.
At a media briefing on Wednesday by its spokesman, Kola Ologbondiyan, the party alleged what it described as a sinister plot by the All Progressives Congress (APC), led Federal Government to forcefully take over the governance of Zamfara State through an imposition of an orchestrated state of emergency.
“Our party rejects this attempt by power-mongers in the APC administration to undermine and subvert the democratic order in Zamfara State by creating the impression that the state government, under Governor Bello Muhammad Matawalle, is to blame for the failures of the APC-led Federal Government to contain insecurity in the state”, Ologbondiyan said.
The party spokesman noted how the APC government had remained quiet over disturbing viral videos, showing self-confessed bandits admitting their fury of being abandoned by the APC after the party had used them to muscle the 2015 and 2019 elections.
The PDP also accused some unnamed APC leaders, masquerading under “extraneous organisations” of making political capital of the situation in Zamfara, a development the PDP said, has led to the escalation of violence in the state.
Asking that the Zamfara governor be left alone, the PDP charged the Federal Government to wake up to its responsibility of confronting bandits, terrorists, kidnappers and vandals, particularly those the APC allegedly brought into Nigeria from other countries.
The PDP spokesman said: “Our party insists that the statutory onus, under our democracy, is on President Muhammadu Buhari and the Federal Government to secure lives and property in all parts of Nigeria, including Zamfara state.
“It is further instructive to state that the Matawalle administration adopted an intervention approach as a distressed measure following the manifest failures of the Buhari Presidency to guarantee the security of lives and property in the state.
“It is on record that Governor Matawalle is not the first governor, particularly in the North West, to adopt such approach in the face of the huge incapacity of the Buhari administration to save lives.
“More so, there is escalated banditry, terrorism, kidnapping and other forms of violent acts in APC controlled states of the North West, like Kaduna and Katsina; in the North East of Borno and Yobe as well as the North Central states of Niger, Nasarawa, Plateau and Kogi.
“Yet, no attempt has been made by the Buhari Presidency to intimidate the governors of the various states or seek to impose a state of emergency or declare such states as no fly zone.
“It is even more worrisome that the Buhari Presidency will gloss over Kaduna, Niger and Mr. President’s home state of Katsina, where killings, kidnapping and abduction have become a daily routine, only to be contemplating an emergency situation in Zamfara”.
“Our party will therefore not allow the Buhari Presidency to tag and intimidate Governor Matawalle for seeking to find solutions to a very depressing situation.”
The All Progressives Congress (APC) dismissed the PDP allegation.
A statement by the Secretary, APC Caretaker/Extra-Ordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC), Senator John James Akpanudoedehe, said President Muhammadu Buhari’s action was part of measures to tackle the security challenges in the state.
The party warned that anybody willing to test the resolve of the security services to enforce the presidential directive will be doing so at his/her peril.
Akpanudoedehe said: “President Muhammadu Buhari has declared Zamfara State a ‘no-fly zone’ and banned all mining activities as part of measures to tackle the security challenges witnessed in the state. Predictably, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is in the news playing its tired card of baselessly politicising the presidential directive.
“The President as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces has a constitutional obligation to explore all legal means to protect Nigerians and restore normalcy to areas facing security challenges. Again, as Commander-in-Chief, the President is privy to classified intelligence, which will guide his actions as with his directive on Zamfara State.
“Insecurity affects us all. So, in our collective quest to find solutions and make our communities safer, the Party continues to urge responsible comments and actions from all, political leanings notwithstanding.”
