APC reveals Plot to arrest Tinubu, Others on trumped up charges

The national leadership of the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) has sounded an alarm over an alleged plot by Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) led federal government to arrest the national leader of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and other prominent leaders of the party in a bid to gain ‘undue advantage’ ahead of the forthcoming general elections which is billed to commence on March 28.
Speaking to newsmen on Saturday at a press conference organised by the party in Lagos, the National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, stated that the plot of the Jonathan administration was to use the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to arrest Tinubu and other financiers of the party.

The APC spokesman also alleged that the plan of the PDP led federal government was use the EFCC and other bodies to freeze the accounts of companies, individuals and organisations believed to be financing the party, with the ultimate objective of crippling the party so it won’t be able to sustain its activities, like paying its agents on Election Day and other logistics.

Text of the Press Conference addressed by the National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Alhaji Lai Mohammed, in Lagos on Saturday, March 21st 2015

Good afternoon gentlemen

We invited you here today to intimate you with the plan by the Jonathan-led federal government and the ruling Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) to decimate the opposition and gain an undue advantage ahead of the forthcoming general elections, due to start next Saturday.

Without mincing words, we are aware that a RED ALERT has been sent to the EFCC to arrest the National Leader of our party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on trumped-up charges anytime from now.

In addition, anyone who is suspected of being a financier of the APC is to be arrested, all in efforts to decapitate the main opposition party which is undoubtedly cruising to victory in the forthcoming elections.

And as part of the offensive against the APC in the days ahead, there is a plan to freeze the accounts of companies, individuals and organisations believed to be financing the party, with the ultimate objective of crippling the party so it won’t be able to sustain its activities, like paying its agents on Election Day and other logistics.

I am sure the question playing on your lips are: Why would anyone want to arrest APC leaders at this time? What have they done to warrant their arrest? Will there still be a level playing ground for the elections if the main opposition party is decimated just days to the polls?

Well, we can tell you that this planned arrest is orchestrated by the same people who have sponsored a series of protests to the EFCC, on the basis of the same documentary against Asiwaju which they also masterminded. It may sound like an intrigue, but that is exactly what it is.

Before I proceed further, please recall that in a statement issued by my party on March 9th, we raised the alarm about the plan to arrest those they suspected to be key financiers of our party. They said it
was not true, that we were raising a false alarm.

Then, during the meeting of the PDP Governors in Lagos on March 10th, one of the Governors, Sule Lamido of Jigawa, said all that needs to be done to break the APC is to ‘kidnap’ two of its leaders, apparently referring to Asiwaju and our presidential candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari.

Definitely, the current move to arrest Asiwaju and anyone they suspect to be a financier of our party fits into the alarm we raised and the open threat by Gov. Lamido. How predictable can a government be?

It is clear that the momentum has swung to the side of our party, with just a little over a week before the Presidential and National Assembly elections. It is clear that Nigerians have rejected the PDP and have embraced our party, the APC, as the agent of the change that they (Nigerians) so much desire.

That explains the desperation being exhibited by the PDP-led Jonathan Administration to arrest Asiwaju, whom they see as the arrowhead of the opposition, believing that this will cripple our party and stop the momentum we have gained.

Of course it is no longer news that the six-week postponement of the elections, which the Jonathan Administration orchestrated with the objective of slowing down our party’s momentum and giving the Jonathan Administration time to regain lost ground, has failed to achieve that objective, hence the resort to more dirty tactics of framing up our leaders just to put them away.

Still on frame-up, the Jonathan Administration has also alleged that our leaders are behind a certain APC Radio which they claimed is being used to destabilize the polity.

Gentlemen, we state categorically that we have nothing to do with that radio station. We believe strongly that the radio station is the handiwork of the same people who are accusing us of establishing it. Their main reason for setting up the station is simple: To use it as another excuse to clamp down on our leaders.

They are the ones who set up the station. They are the ones who announced its establishment to the whole country and now they are the ones who are trying to leverage it to arrest our leaders.

Gentlemen, we are not surprised at the increasing resort to dirty tactics by the PDP-led Jonathan Administration. It fits into the pattern of the Administration’s abuse of federal institutions, including the police, the military and the regulatory agencies, to harass and intimidate the opposition

It is also a reflection of the desperation of the Jonathan government to make sure that Nigeria is plunged into chaos by sabotaging the elections.

As we have always said, this President is not interested in a free, fair, credible and violence-free polls. That is why it can even contemplate the arrest of opposition leaders on trumped-up charges, hoping that it will trigger a crisis that will either scuttle the polls or pave the way for anti-democratic forces to short circuit our country’s democracy.

We are therefore using this forum to alert Nigerians to the evil machinations of the Jonathan government and the PDP to throw Nigeria into crisis. We also call on our country’s international friends to take note of the desperate tactics of the duo and to do whatever they can to prevail on them not to plunge the country into chaos.

As a matter of fact, these duo have perfected every strategy to put Nigeria on the road to Kigali and Laurent Gbagbo’s post-election Ivory Coast in the days ahead. This explains why we have been constantly raising the alarm for our compatriots and the world to know and act.

Election is not war, but a celebration of democracy. Nigeria must not be allowed to be plunged into crisis for whatever reason. This is because the consequences will be dire, not just for our country and her citizens but for the entire West African region and indeed all of Africa.

Nigeria’s estimated population of 170 million is over 56 per cent of the ECOWAS’ population of 300 million. Therefore, a destabilized Nigeria is a destabilized West Africa.

We want to thank all Nigerians, especially those within the Jonathan Administration who have chosen to put the love of country above personal gains, for constantly giving us a heads-up on the nefarious activities of the Administration which are aimed at scuttling the forthcoming polls and truncating our nation’s democracy

Despite the ominous cloud that is gathering over our nation, we remain optimistic that the anarchists behind the efforts to destabilize our country will not succeed. We remain optimistic that the will of the people of Nigeria will prevail over that of a cabal that is hell bent on holding on to power at all cost. After all, as Abraham Lincoln said, no man is good enough to govern another man without that man’s consent.

We have no doubt that at the end of the day, good will overcome evil.

I thank you for listening

Alhaji Lai Mohammed
National Publicity Secretary
All Progressives Congress (APC)
Lagos, March 21st 2015