Ijaw national leader and elder statesman, Chief Edwin Clark, has alleged that some members of the opposition party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), may kill or poison President Goodluck Jonathan in their bid to take over power come 2015.
This is just as the National Coordinator of the Ward-to-Ward Initiative, Shekulomaso Kamal Karka, has stated that the group is ready to storm the 774 local government areas and 9,572 wards in the country to galvanise support for Jonathan’s re-election bid.
Speaking in Abuja at a conference held at the instance of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Ward-to-Ward Initiative, Clark said the utterances of some members of the APC in the face of the biting insecurity had become worrisome as it depicted them as care-free.
Clark, who praised the efforts of the Ward-to-Ward Initiative organisers for mopping up support for the re-election bid of President Jonathan, said the era of election rigging or political thuggery was over as Nigerians had become cautious of their votes, unlike in the past.
“This morning, I read one of the newspapers. The national chairman of one of our parties said Nigeria was moving towards anarchy. I was shocked. Coming here, I want to make a statement about it. Today, you are here on your own because you believe in Nigeria. The future is here.
“Do not be deceived. Nigeria is a great country. Those abroad want to come home. Everywhere in this world, there are problems. Do not deride your country. The fact that you are in the opposition does not mean you should deride the country. I pray that the opposition joins hands with the government to tackle the problems in the North.
“But when we have an opposition whose intention is to take over power, there is a problem. I appeal to the national chairman of APC to tread carefully. If they even have their way, they can kill or poison Jonathan just to take over power. If Nigeria falls, there will be no country for the opposition to take over.
“We may have challenges as a country, but those challenges must be faced. People complain about this government. The president and military are joining forces to end Boko Haram insurgency. But he was accused of committing genocide. But now they are saying he is weak. Those people saying that, are they ready to rule this country? Are they patriotic? The answer is no,” Clark opined.
While calling on the electorate to be mindful of desperate politicians, he said the protection of votes had become necessary to checkmate the political excesses of politicians.
“You are no longer going to be used as thugs by politicians and dumped after elections. That is one of the problems of this country. The problem of this country is our politicians. Anybody who paints the picture of this country bad is not patriotic.
“I wish many more Nigerian youths will join what you are doing. We want a better Nigeria where nobody is superior or inferior to the other. A Nigeria where we are all equal. A Nigeria where you can aspire to become anything,” he submitted.
Earlier in his speech, the Board Chairman of the group, Martin Apugo, said their programmes at Ward-to-Ward Initiative would not terminate after the general election as “developmental issues will continue to affect the masses and every Nigerian in all the 9,572 wards across the country.”
Source: ThisDay
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