A leading figure in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Public Communications Assistant to Atiku Abubakar, Phrank Shaibu has accused the All-Progressives Congress (APC) of intimidating and harassing the judiciary.
This claim comes in the wake of PDP Presidential Candidate, Atiku’s assertion that there are plans to intimidate and manipulate the judiciary, undermining the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC).
In response, the presidency labelled Atiku’s allegations as an attempt to blackmail the judiciary. They described his claims as “spurious and wild.”
However, during a Monday interview with Arise News, Shaibu rebuked the presidency’s response.
He labelled it as “an unpresidential remark, an unpresidential rebuttal from a government that prides itself as being advocates of the rule of law and democracy.”
The PDP chieftain added, “Nobody can categorize apprehension and the statement we issued as frivolous or spurious.”
Shaibu claimed the PDP raised these concerns after observing the APC seemingly repeat actions taken in 2019 when they were accused of influencing the judiciary.
He said, “We raised the alarm because we know their plot. We know that they have a penchant, we know that it’s their stock in trade to intimidate and harass the judiciary. I’ve provided evidence of what they did in 2019, and they’ve started treading on the same road.
“We only needed to raise the alarm for eternal vigilance because we are seeing the same signs. We are talking about the same set of people; The APC who have a penchant for intimidation of the judiciary because they have a penchant of railroading themselves into power using any means possible. And we have said it, we listened to their candidate during the election, who said- you should grab it, steal it, whatever it takes, just grab power. That’s how power should be taken.
“We are saying, this man, Bola Ahmed Tinubu the INEC claimed won the election, he has been sworn in into power, we don’t have a problem with that. Atiku is a man you know who loves peace.
“So the issue is we are saying that eternal vigilance is the key, and we are saying Nigerians, look, be on the alert. We are saying security agencies, be on the alert, don’t allow yourselves to be used. We are saying the chief justices of our courts should be on the alert. Don’t allow anybody to compromise you.”
However, in the same interview, the lawmaker representing Goronyo/Gada Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Musa Sarkin Adar said that the allegations levelled against the ruling party are attempts to blackmail the president and APC by those who claimed to have won the election.
He charged presidential candidates of the other parties to work together with President Tinubu.
Adar said, “This country needs to be forward. We have seen in the past, all the attempts that have been made by the opposition parties- blackmailing, all this and that- during the campaign. The campaign has come and gone. Please, let us start building the nation.
“If you have anything that you think you would have wanted to do if you won the election, Nigeria belongs to all of us, and the president is your own personal friend. All of you dine and dance together in many places. Go and meet him.
“We should not continue, just simply because of personal selfishness. We cannot get all what we want at all times, and we must be patient, that’s what makes leadership.”
