By Olusegun Lawrence. The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has reacted to the statement credited to the Senator Ahmed Makarfi’s faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that it is responsible for the action of the police, which prevented the faction from meeting at the International Conference Centre in Abuja.
Prompt News recalls that the meeting slated for the ICC at 2.00pm could not commence because policemen had been deployed to barricade the entrance.
The PDP chieftains later moved to Ekiti Governor’s Lodge at Asokoro, where the stakeholders meeting presided over by Ahmed Makarfi was held.
Reacting, Mr. Bolaji Abdullahi, spokesperson for the APC in a statement on Tuesday, fumed that the Markarfi-led PDP also alleged that the ruling party had somehow influenced the Appeal Court decision which declared Ali Modu-Sheriff has the authentic national chairman of the PDP.
Abdullahi however denied the allegations, saying “The police do not take instructions from the APC. The police themselves have explained why they stopped the Markarfi group from meeting at the ICC.
“If the factional PDP is dissatisfied with the police explanation, they could seek further clarifications from the police or pursue alternative means of redress.”
The APC posited that so far, the Makarfi group has not faulted the police or provided any proof for its allegations against the APC.
“The reason we have not simply ignored the wild allegations is because we are imperiled by utterances and conducts that attack the integrity and independence of our judicial system.
“Every Nigerian should be worried by the behaviour of the various PDPs which is capable of eroding the confidence of Nigerians in our judicial system. Even as they battle themselves for survival, we urge restraint in the interest of our democracy.
“We wish to reiterate that the APC has no interest in the internal crisis that is consuming the PDP, which is only one of several opposition parties in the country.
“We pray for them to put their house in order soon because as a political party that was once in the opposition, we believe that democracy is better served when the opposition is alive.
“However, we also know the PDP can only begin to take steps towards recovery if they stop peddling conspiracy theories and blaming imaginary enemies.
