Before the 2023 election, Mr. Danjuma Shidi, the All Progressives candidate for the Taraba South senatorial district, pleaded with President Muhammadu Buhari and Inspector General of Police Usman Alkali to intervene in the state’s ongoing harassment and intimidation of party members.
Shidi, who spoke to reporters at the National Assembly building over the weekend in Abuja, alleged that members of the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) were often arrested on fabricated accusations by PDP operatives.
Shidi, a representative for Taraba State’s Wukari/Ibi Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, stated that President Buhari and the IGP should become involved in order to preserve democracy in the state before the 2023 election.
He claimed that despite efforts to secure their release on bail in accordance with established rules and regulations, the campaign director-general of his campaign organization, Mr. Sumaila Yakubu, and several other party heavyweights who supported the APC governorship candidate, Senator Emmanuel Bwacha, and were brutally kidnapped by state security agents, have been imprisoned.
Shiddi specifically charged Taraba South Senatorial District Governor Dairus Isyaku, who is also the PDP senatorial candidate, with orchestrating the heinous act out of worry that both he and the PDP could lose the election in 2023.
The Governor’s fear is the problem, he said. He is aware that he will not win the election. He tried every other strategy, but he was unsuccessful. He now seeks to impose his will through coercion by intimidating and harassing the opposition while generating fear in our people.
However, we are prepared for him. The director general of my campaign organization is currently a prison inmate. Two days ago, my own coordinator and the party chairman in my local government, Senator Bwacha, who is running for governor, were both hauled to court and then immediately sent to prison.
They are currently being held in custody as I speak to you because they alerted the police about a plot by some PDP insiders to attack us. And the police invited those who had written the petition to court, took them there, and sent them directly to prison without even giving them a fair hearing instead of arresting those who had now looked into the case.
They promised to release them on bond provided a permanent secretary who works for the state can serve as surety. You are aware that in a PDP-controlled state, no permanent secretary would act in that manner. When the judge was contacted, he responded that he had left for the village and wouldn’t be back until Monday.
They would keep them there, thus that means. They have transgressed on their basic freedom and liberty rights. Therefore, we assert that Taraba State’s democracy is in danger because he lacks tolerance for the opposition. The current administration is intimidating and harassing our law-abiding citizens, especially APC members, by using state resources and authority. This is due to the APC turning into his worst fear.
