Ruling PDP in Nigeria Berates Opposition CPC Over Post-Election Violence

Federal Republic of Nigeria Interim President Goodluck Jonathan addresses the media in the aftermath of the announcement that the national elections would be delayed by two days. Technical and logistical problems were cited., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.

PDP berates CPC over post-election violence

Written by Idowu Samuel, Abuja
Nigerian Tribune
Monday, 16 May 2011

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has taken the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) to task on the post-election violence in some parts of the North, blaming the leaders of the party for causing tension which sparked the crisis.

The PDP took this position as it lamented the increasing tension in Nigeria which it said was being engendered by the attitude and remarks of members and leaders of CPC, stressing, “the leaders of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) have certainly done very little to reduce tension in the aftermath of the elections.

In a press statement signed by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Professor Ahmed Rufa’i Alkali, the PDP said the violence that greeted the elections especially in areas where the CPC won overwhelmingly was the direct fallout of inciting comments and directives made by leaders of CPC even before the conclusion of the elections.

The statement read, “In analysing the trend of the violence, we want the leadership of the CPC to answer the following questions. Why did the violence take place only in areas where the CPC won? Why did the violence break out in those areas even before the results of the elections were known? What was the purpose of vandalising traditional palaces? Why were Independent National Electoral Commission offices the target of attack? Why were PDP leaders and members of their families the main victims of the mayhem? The answers to these questions are that the actions were premeditated to disrupt the electoral process and create a semblance of anarchy.

“Rather than condemn and distance themselves from these unfortunate events, the CPC leadership resorted to falsehoods and mocking of the victims by the rationalisation of their despicable acts.”

The PDP said it would await the outcome of the probe panel set up by the Federal Government to probe the violence just as it appealed to Nigerians to closely watch the activities of people who it said were determined to derail the nation’s democracy.