Noah Ebije, Kaduna
A chieftain of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in Kaduna State, Yusuf Ali (aka RBG), has appealed to politicians in the state to shun the politics of blackmail with the intent to tarnishing the image of their opponents.
Ali made the remarks in a statement issued to reporters at the weekend.
He said a situation whereby politicians in Kaduna State take delight in setting up their opponents in order to destroy their image is appalling and despicable.
“Politics is supposed to be a clean game even though we say everything is fair in politics as in war, but we must exhibit respect for the dignity of a person while politicking even if he or she is our political opponent,” the politician said.
“To go the extra mile to set up our opponents or blackmail them with the aim of soiling their names and tarnishing their image will not augur well for politics in Kaduna State.”
Ali said politics should be based on issues and not about the campaign of calumny, slander or blackmail in order to gain political advantage over opponents.
“When someone appears to be a threat to some politicians, they go all out to dig up dirt and smear the person or even arrange to get their opponents pants down in uncompromising position. This is condemnable before God and man. It’s detestable and despicable.
“It has even come to the level that those with unlimited capacity for mischief have elevated their evil act to planting hidden cameras in hotel suites to capture the image of their victims in uncompromising position in order to blackmail him.
“These mischiefs have their moral and legal consequences and I am sure there will be ramifications for those involved in such mischiefs,” he said.
“I believe at some point in time we are in the same camp or even opposing camps or different political parties. We all have our diverse political sympathy but we should have it at the back of our minds that we all have families, friends and even foes. We shouldn’t allow ourselves to go so low into gutter politics to smear our opponents and when we do that then we are not even fair to ourselves or even the people we seek to serve.
“Let’s try at all cost to play politics of fairness and not politics of hate and bitterness, which we have seen in recent times has resulted in attacking or exposing the personal life of opponents in order to make them look bad,” he said.