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The National Chairman of the opposition, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has said the President Muhammadu Buhari led federal government and ruling all progressives congress are desperate to frame him (Secondus) so as to silence him.
In a statement signed by his media adviser, Ike Abonyi, Mr Secondus said blackmail and intimidation of the opposition by the federal government would not stop him from carrying out the reform of his party.
Recall that the federal government released a list of looters in which the PDP chairman was alleged to have collected N200 million from the office of then National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki.
“The attention of the media office of the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Uche Secondus, has been drawn to the desperation of the federal government and its ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to frame him up with some blatant fabrications ostensibly to distract him from carrying out his responsibility of rebuilding his party.”
The media office said Mr Secondus would ordinarily not join issues with the government on a matter already in court, “but regrettably the administration has great contempt for the court and the rule of law and has instead chosen to use blackmail and media persecution to defame and discredit their enemies.”
This gimmick, according to Mr Secondus, has failed because Nigerians have come to know the antics of the “drowning” government.
“In its desperation to forge documents and defame him, forgot to reconcile their lies; the Minister of Information and Culture Alhaji Lai Mohammed and the EFCC couldn’t agree on the date of the purported money collection and whether it was collected by him Secondus or by a faceless fictional Chukwura that has no surname.
“While they may have embarked on a wide search since 2015 for the surname of the so-called aide of the National Chairman, Alhaji Mohammad claimed in his press conference on Good Friday March 29th, 2018 that Secondus collected the money on 19th of February, 2015, EFCC on their part on April 16th, 2018, eighteen days after said the money was collected on February 9th, 2015 and in another version still quoting the same EFCC claimed February 2, 2015.”
The PDP chairman also described as unfortunate and tragic that an anti-corruption agency like EFCC founded and nurtured by PDP administration to tackle corruption in the system had turned itself into a “pawn” in the hands of APC administration to witchhunt and harass perceived enemies of government just to impress and keep job.
He challenged the government and any agency with anything against him to bring such evidence to the court and stop character assassination in the media.
“There’s no need to be talking about a case pending in court in the newspapers. If the government has anything to say, they should file it before the court as demanded.”
He challenged the government to come out with the vouchers with which he was said to have signed, adding that such signature would also be subjected to forensic analysis.
“I never collected any money from anywhere. I didn’t ask anyone to collect money for me as well and I didn’t sign any voucher to collect any money.
“It is pure blackmail which will never work.
“If they are cooking up anything, with the aim of blackmailing me, it will fail. I know that the task of uprooting this non-performing government would be horrendous. But God is always on the side of the people.
“I can understand the frustration of a party that enjoyed enormous goodwill from Nigerians three years ago but got it squandered with its ‘nepotic’ and insensitive administration.
“No amount of cheap blackmail and treachery will return the APC from the exit gate where Nigerians already pushed them to, awaiting 2019.
“The departure date for the APC has already been announced and the flight schedule would not be cancelled, because Nigerians cannot wait to see them off,” the spokesperson said.