Abaribe: ‘Vicious, Dangerous’ APC Govt Won’t Accept Poll Defeat in 2019

Emmanuel Ugwu in Umuahia

Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe has warned the opposition parties that the All Progressives Congress (APC) has grown so “vicious and dangerous” to the extent that they would find it very hard to accept defeat and relinquish power if they lose the 2019 presidential poll.

The senator representing Abia South sounded the note of warning while addressing members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at a rally in Obingwa Local Government Area during the visit of the state working committee, saying: “At this moment, Nigeria is at the crossroads.”

He said the APC-led government at the centre was like a ripe fruit ready for plucking but the efforts of the PDP to return back to power would be viciously resisted by the ruling APC for fear they would be paid back in their own coin if they should lose power.

“This is a very vicious government. It is not going to be easy (to unseat Buhari) because we’re facing a dangerous government,” he said, adding that a vicious government would do everything to cling to power.

Abaribe, who reviewed the state of affairs at the national level and efforts the National Assembly has been making to save Nigeria’s democracy from crumbling, noted that the ruling party has become a bundle of deceits.

According to him, the APC government has continued to indulge in all the sins it accused the PDP of committing when it was in power and has even multiplied such things 10 times over.

He said the APC government was swimming in corruption but “twists everything they do” in order to cover their sins and “call themselves saints when they are the worst devil.”

Citing the recent fuel subsidy scandal, the senator said the President Muhammadu Buhari administration inherited subsidy payment of N800 million but has now corruptly hiked it to N1.4 billion without justifying the rise in consumption level.

The Abia South senator further pointed out the hypocrisy of the Buhari administration, noting that as a presidential candidate, Buhari scoffed at the idea of Nigerians going abroad for medical treatment but now not only is the president but his son also has gone abroad for treatment.

He also faulted the haunting of PDP members over campaign funds, saying it was absurd for a party member who was given money for campaigns to ask his party to explain the source of money before taking it.

Abaribe challenged the ruling party to explain the source of Buhari’s campaign funds, which according to him was provided from the coffers of both Lagos and Rivers State Governments.

He stated that the governors who made the funds available were rewarded with juicy positions and were now in the core of Buhari’s cabinet and counted among the saints in the ruling APC.

The fiery senator lamented that the ruling party has circumscribed democratic principles, using threats and intimidation to stop Nigerians from speaking out against the maladministration, impunity and disrespect for the rule of law being witnessed in the country.

“They (APC) don’t want people to talk; if you talk, they will check if you had executed a government contract before and use it against you,” he said.