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The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has replied to the call by Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) leader, Major-General Muhammadu Buhari (retd), who warned that blood would flow over the 2015 elections should it be like the last general election won by the PDP, saying that the former head of state is blood thirsty.
Addressing a news conference at the national headquarters of the party in Abuja on Tuesday, the National Publicity Secretary of the party, Chief Olisa Metuh, also noted that the PDP understood Buhari’s frustration having contested and lost election three times.
While taking exception to Buhari’s remarks, the PDP recalled that the former CPC presidential candidate’s earlier statement led to the bloody post-election crisis that claimed the lives of several innocent people last year.
Metuh stated: “We need to remind ourselves that on April 21, 2012, Buhari was reported in the media as predicting a bloody revolution in 2015. The reports in the national dailies today (Tuesday) quoting the same retired General as repeating that blood will flow in 2015 is another build-up to Buhari’s relish of funeral train.
“While PDP cherishes freedom of speech, assembly and association as the custodian of Nigeria’s democracy, we, at the same time, know that such freedom goes with immense responsibilities. We condemn in no uncertain terms this shameful call for the spill of blood of innocent Nigerians to acquire political power.
“We appreciate Buhari’s frustration and antagonism towards the PDP. He has lost three times at the polls. But is Buhari really a democrat?
“Why is the blood of innocent Nigerians the only thing sufficient to quench his thirst for power?”
The PDP pointed out that what the nation needed was evolution in the true spirit of democracy, noting that the utterances of Buhari, a former military head of state, was undemocratic, unpatriotic and UN-statesmanlike.
“It is on record that Nigeria is yet to recover from the huge losses it suffered due to such reckless and provocative remarks by Buhari before the 2011 general election, which led to a spate of bloody post-election violence across six states of the federation,” the PDP posited, adding that “Buhari is again engaged in another build-up of massive bloodletting and destruction.
The party, therefore, advised that “Nigerians should be worried over Buhari’s quest for power by all means, as he begins chanting his old war song once again. We have no doubt that Buhari is suffering from combat withdrawal syndrome. We, therefore, urge the Federal Government to allow him to lead the ECOWAS military contingent to Mali or Guinea Bissau to enable him an opportunity to exercise the bloodletting demons apparently haunting him.”
The PDP which said it was disturbed by the utterances of the CPC leader, “at this time of grave security challenge while Nigerians are burying their dead and counting their losses,” regretted that “General Buhari, who wants to rule them, is further inflaming the orgy of violence. What a blood thirsty leader in Buhari!”
The party called on well-meaning Nigerians, especially the northern elders, to call Buhari to order and ask him to “spare the nation his thirst for blood.”
The PDP further observed that Buhari had consistently accused the PDP government of not interested in transparency and justice, using this as a basis for inciting the public to take the law into their hands.
“To him, justice is only done when his party wins. Where it doesn’t, the PDP’s machinations will be blamed. He has repeatedly cited the Igabi Local Government in Kaduna State as an example of where free and fair election was conducted, simply because CPC won,” it said.
The PDP advised Buhari to stop seeing PDP as the evil genius behind his failure, adding that he was the architect of his own misfortune, as he and his party, CPC, headed to the 2011 election unprepared, with very weak party structure in more than three-quarter of Nigerian states.
On the 2015 general election, the PDP spokesman said the party would win convincingly based on its performance in all sectors and, therefore, urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to ensure the conduct of a free, fair and credible election.
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