The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has accused the federal government of using the Department of State Services (DSS) to sway the ongoing electoral tribunal matters to favour the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Rising from their weekly national working committee meeting yesterday, the national publicity secretary of the party, Olisa Metuh, declared that the director-general of DSS, Lawan Daura, has invited some people in Rivers State and other places to discuss matters before the tribunal.
Metuh, who warned that the move signaled the emergence of an authoritarian regime, said “national working committee(NWC) of PDP has uncovered plots and plans by the newly-appointed DG, DSS to intervene and interfere on political issues especially tribunal matters.
“In that regard, the NWC has been made aware that the new DG DSS has even invited some people in relation to Rivers tribunal and other states and is trying to discuss such matters with tribunal members.
“The PDP alerts the national and international community that this is gross interference in democratic affairs and that it can lead to authoritarian regime. PDP decries the attempt to enthrone draconian regime where security forces and other apparatus of the ruling party would decide to be influencing election matters and outcome on behalf of the ruling party.”
He further expressed the concern of the PDP over what it considered as illegal dissolution of validly elected local government councils in the APC-controlled states of Plateau and Katsina.
He said, “PDP has raised complaints against the dissolution of validly elected local government councils in APC-controlled states of Plateau and Katsina even without court judgements.
“You will recall that in Rivers where we had a valid court judgement, the police interfered and stopped the PDP from taking over control of those councils. However, in Plateau and Katsina where they did not have any court judgements, a unilateral nullification of elections and dismantling of democratic structures at the local government level in Plateau and Katsina States, the police aided and abetted them in truncating the tenures of duly-elected officers.”
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