By Ado Hassan, Sokoto
The opposition All Progressives Congress(APC) in Sokoto state has described as ’empty threat’ allegedly from the ruling PDP government in the state to sack civil servants perceived to be sympathetic to its fold by the ruling PDP government, assuring the affected workers to disregard same.
” Nothing will happen to them.”
In an eight paragraph statement issued Saturday by its Publicity Secretary, Sambo Bello Danchadi, the party they were exercising their right to free association as guaranteed by the Nigerian constitution.
Danchadi in the statement titled:” PDP AND POLITICAL THUGGERY, WHOM THE CAP FITS”, stated ” The attention of the Sokoto State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress APC, has been drawn to recent utterances and policy statements by the Sokoto State PDP Government. The statements should have been ignored, except for the fear that some misinformed members of the public, especially those outside Sokoto, may hold them as true.
” The PDP has been threatening civil servants, known or suspected to be sympathetic to the APC, that they would lose their positions for identifying with the APC. We wish to assure the concerned civil servants that those are empty threats and that nothing will happen to them, because they are exercising their right to free association guaranteed by the Nigerian constitution.
” We wish to assure them that the APC as a political party is ready to go to any length, within the limits of the law, to protect that right to freedom of association, which includes the right to free political association.”
The party in the statement further noted with passion that they were aware of the utterances by the Sokoto State PDP leadership on political thuggery, insinuating that the APC is keeping political thugs and even faking a ban on them.
However, the state APC was also quoted as saying in the statement that ” The good people of Sokoto State may wish to recall that on Saturday 4th of August 2018, the APC staged a welcome rally in honor of its leader, Senator Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko, a rally that was greater than that of the PDP by many folds. The most interesting part of the event, is that not even a chicken was killed during the rally. Indeed it was adjudged the best and most successful in recent history. Nobody was killed. No one’s property was destroyed and the state was peaceful throughout.
” Also, the PDP held its own rally on Saturday 13th October 2018, and what did we have? Properties belonging to parties other than the PDP were destroyed, including residences in Kasarawa and Bado Villages which bore the signs of other parties, especially the APC. In fact an innocent onlooker was shot dead by a stray bullet from the governor’s police escort.”
Accordingly, the statement continued:” We therefore wish to dismiss the PDP insinuations and reaffirm that we the APC have no political thugs. We are a peaceful and peace loving party and we intend to remain so.
” We salute the good people of Sokoto State and in particular our civil servants for their perseverance in the face of bad governance and absence of any meaningful development these past three years.
“We appeal for more patience and sacrifice as we await the next elections with greatest hope and confidence. In shaa Allahu”, concluded Danchadi in the statement.
