APC plans to disrupt elections using lawmakers, PDP alleges

The Peoples Democratic Party has accused the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council of plots to disrupt the 2023 general election.

The PDP also alleged that there were moves by the campaign organisation to use certain APC members in both the Senate and the House of Representatives to heat up the polity and rubbish the conduct of the 2023 elections.

The PDP campaign council disclosed this in a statement by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, on Wednesday.

Ologunagba stated that, “There is credible intelligence of how the APC presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, allegedly directed his cronies in the APC leadership of both Houses of the National Assembly to reconvene plenary and use the legislative chambers as platforms to promote incendiary speeches with the view to overheating the polity and making it appear unconducive to conduct elections in the country.

“This is in furtherance of the alleged scheme by the APC presidential campaign to use all means including the APC leadership of the National Assembly to orchestrate security situations that will justify its reported demands to postpone elections as a prelude to the derailment of the electoral process, having realised that it has no chance in the elections.”

The spokesperson of the PDP further stated, “Our Party has been made aware of a deceptive design by the APC leadership in both chambers of the National Assembly to reconvene Plenary under the guise of being concerned about the hardship faced by Nigerians due to the scarcity of new naira notes induced and aggravated by the exposed sinister diversion of new naira notes by the Tinubu Campaign.

“Further information indicates that the Tinubu presidential campaign, which is reportedly intercepting new naira notes for vote-buying purposes, has also directed the APC leadership in the National Assembly to use their legislative instruments to pressure and compromise financial institutions to succumb to their cash diversion agenda.”

Ologunagba said Nigerians could now note the reason behind the recent statement by the APC leadership of the National Assembly that attempted to justify its plan to reconvene the National Assembly at this time.

The PDP challenged the National Assembly to publicly condemn the reported plot by the APC leaders and its presidential campaign, to “swap a whopping N22.5 billion in old N1000 notes for new ones in Kano and Lagos states for alleged vote buying.”

The party also challenged the APC leadership at the National Assembly to “commence an investigation into the N22.5 billion fraudulent cash swap report if truly it is concerned about the suffering and anguish Nigerians are facing in accessing the new Naira notes.”

The party said, “It is instructive to note that the Tinubu Campaign has not denied the reported criminal N22.5 billion cash swap for vote buying. Instead, it has resorted to hauling insults and lame diversionary claims.”

The PDP advised the APC presidential candidate to end his resort to underhand dealings, particularly the attempt to compromise the National Assembly, adding that he should quit the race since he had nothing to offer, instead of seeking to truncate the electoral process.