The political back-and-forth between Nigeria’s major parties took a sharper tone on Wednesday as the Special Assistant on Print Media to the Oyo State Governor, Moses Alao, accused the All Progressives Congress of speaking from both sides of its mouth.
The ruling party had earlier faulted the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Alhaji Kabiru Tanimu Turaki, SAN, for asking United States President Donald Trump and other global actors to intervene in what he described as a growing assault on Nigeria’s democracy.
The APC, through its National Publicity Secretary Felix Morka, labelled the appeal unpatriotic and reckless, describing it as an invitation to foreign invasion.
In his reaction, Alao reminded the APC of a moment in 2014 when the same party, then in opposition, issued an alarm to Nigerians and what it called “international friends,” warning of a supposed danger to democracy under the PDP-led Federal Government.
According to him, for the APC to now criticise Turaki for sounding the same alarm is both dishonest and fraudulent.
Turaki’s statement came on the heels of the disruption at the PDP National Secretariat on Tuesday. Governors Seyi Makinde and Bala Mohammed, members of the Board of Trustees and the National Working Committee arrived for scheduled meetings only to meet the gates shut.
Hoodlums believed to be backed by a serving Minister reportedly attacked legitimate party officers while expelled members occupied the premises.
The PDP leadership described the events as an attack on the very idea of democratic order. Turaki, in his reaction, appealed to President Trump and the international community to intervene, warning that Nigeria was slipping into a dangerous place.
Recall that Governor Makinde also shared the sentiment while speaking to newsmen at party’s national secretariat, saying Nigeria was in a fight for the future of its democracy.
Alao argued that the call was both patriotic and timely. He urged President Bola Tinubu and the APC to revisit their own public record before dismissing Turaki’s concerns.
In his view, the APC’s history of calling for international intervention while in opposition weakens its moral authority to criticise the PDP for taking a similar step.
He pointed to the APC’s June 20, 2014 statement, which urged global partners to condemn what it called rising impunity under the then Federal Government.
That APC statement also warned that silence from the international community would erode its right to criticise any reactions that might follow.
Alao said the contrast between the APC’s past actions and its present outrage laid bare a pattern of selective outrage.
He added that Nigeria’s democracy is facing one of its toughest moments and that the responsibility to defend it falls on all reasonable actors both at home and abroad.
According to him, the PDP leadership has chosen to pursue the path of peace even in the face of provocation, and the APC should count itself lucky that the major opposition party is focused on preserving democratic stability rather than escalating tensions.