Eniola Olayemi
A group, under the auspices of the G23 for Waziri, yesterday gave the Federal Government a seven-day ultimatum to unfreeze the account of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) vice presidential candidate, Peter Obi, or risk unprecedented protest in the country.
In a statement issued after an emergency meeting, and made available to journalists in Kaduna yesterday, the group said it would use its structures across the states of the federation to stage a mass protest if the Federal Government fails to unfreeze the account.
“We considered the action of the Federal Government as a political witch-hunting and this is an indication that our democracy is under threat,” it said. The group accused the Federal Government and All Progressives Congress (APC) of frustrating the opposition and the democratic process in Nigeria.
The statement, which was signed by the National Chairman of the group, Olaitan Lucky Turaki, stated that it would not allow any Nigerian either as a politician or not to be witch-hunt by the APC-led administration.“We are not going to accept impunity because the refusal of the President not to sign the Electoral Bill is already killing our democracy.
“We urge the government to do the needful before the expiration of our seven days ultimatum to avoid putting the country under necessary pressure, especially at this festive period. Turaki, therefore, urged the National Assembly to use its veto-power to sign into law the bill as a way of strengthening the electoral process in the country.
In another development, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) has supported the Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) to endorse Alhaji Atiku Abubakar as their presidential candidate for the 2019 election.
The ADC, which said it would always abide with the provisions of CUPP’s Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), assured its members, stakeholders and supporters that all grey areas would be addressed to ensure that its votes are protected in the National Assembly and other elections.
In a statement yesterday, National Chairman of the party, Chief Ralphs Nwosu, said the ADC being a party of integrity, its major priority was the well-being of Nigerians. Nwosu said this just as he maintained that ADC’s legislators at the state and federal levels and others contesting election at different levels would defeat the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and other parties in 2019.
He said the party’s presidential aspirants had been properly briefed before the primary on the decision of the party to adhere strictly to the provisions of the CUPP’s MoU.
