Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
The Reformed All Progressives Congress (R-APC) has warned that no amount of ‘carrots’, intimidation and harassment could dissuade it from its commitment to rescue the nation’s democracy.
In a statement signed by the National Publicity Secretary of R-APC, Prince Kassim Afegbua, the group chided the Presidency for its present romance with the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, warning that it still maintaining its stand against the APC.
“We members of the R-APC find it very amusing that those who boasted that they won’t lose sleep over our altruistic action, have been hopping from door to door pleading with our members not to leave by dangling juicy carrots and promising them heaven and earth.
“Such level of double standard is the reason the R-APC was birthed in the first place because the leadership is not one that keeps promises and it’s the reason no one should take the APC serious.
“It is interesting to suddenly see Mr. President holding meetings with the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, reportedly promising mouth-watering offers; the same leader who was ridiculed, scandalized, demonised, criminalised and called all sorts of names by agents of the presidency just to give the Senate President a bad name in order to hang him.
“As soon as the Supreme Court gave a resounding verdict on the trumped up and frivolous charges against the Senate President, Mr. President suddenly felt a need to praise the judiciary for standing on its own. Hmm, power as they truly say, must be a crazy aphrodisiac.
“Never a time has the number three citizen of Nigeria been so dehumanized, criminalised and disgraced in such whimsical manner while all the present reconciliators kept conspiratorial silence, waiting for the sledge hammer to fall on the Senate President.
“They tried all tricks, mounted all manner of pressures, raised all dubious allegations, just to nail the Senate President.
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“They were short of calling him a promoter of armed robbery; they linked his name to the Offa Robbery and improvised all biles to rubbish the institution of the Legislature.
“They striped him naked in the market place and now desperately trying to bath him with ornaments in the inner fortress of Aso Rock.
“The Chairman of the Code of Conduct displayed magisterial arrogance in prosecuting the Senate President, but all that fell by the way side as the Supreme Court gave one of its landmark judgments in recent time by giving him a clean bill of health.
“Pronto, all the political conspirators in the APC swoop into dubious reconciliation assignment, hopping from door to door at the thick of the night to strike deals of reconciliation.
“Those who said they won’t lose sleep over the R-APC, have become sleepless in the last two weeks. Does anyone need to be reminded that caveat emptor should be the operative words?
“Those who pleaded in the past, short of kneeling before their subordinates, ended up in the political belly of their benefactors when the re-election was concluded. It is an albatross that some people are still carrying till date.
“Examples abound in this our democracy and it is ringing bell in our consciousness every now and then. This government is never a promise keeper and some of the promises contained in the manifestos of the APC have been jettisoned.
“The president who has held himself in the inner sanctuary of the Presidential Villa is all of a sudden, opening his doors to one meeting or the other all in the name of re-election.
“Just to make the point that it is too late in the day. The train has left the station. Leopards cannot change their spots no matter how much one tries to tame them.
“We enjoin all our members to remain steadfast and resolute in defending their rights and taking the appropriate action in defence of democracy. This democracy must survive on ethical grounds and not on lawlessness and exclusion. It must provide a level playing grounds for all participants.
“Those who prevented some persons from visiting their states in the name of politics, have suddenly realised that they need the services and support of those persons.
“They are now pleading, ready to submit to all demands. Who does not know that won’t work because examples have shown that political agreements are often observed in the breach.
“This is to inform our members nation-wide that we are still maintaining our stand against the APC and no amount of carrots, intimidation and harassment can dissuade us in our shared commitment to rescue this democracy,” the statement read.
