From Okwe Obi, Abuja
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has been accused and cautioned by the Conscience of Democracy in Nigeria against supporting the planned anti-government protest scheduled for 1 August.
The claim was made by the group’s leader, Adamu Kabir Matazu, at a press conference yesterday in Abuja.
He called on the Office of the National Security Adviser to arrest the PDP’s Iliya Umar Damagum over his support for the planned nationwide protest against President Bola Tinubu’s government.
He described Damagum’s endorsement of the protest as “shocking” and “inciting” and accused him of working to destabilise Nigeria.
According to Matazu, the PDP under Damagum was responsible for the current economic crisis facing Nigeria, having laid the foundation during its 16 years in power.
“We wish to remind Damagum and those for whom he runs errands that the log is in their eyes. They should first look at what they contributed to the cost of living and economic crisis facing Nigeria today.
“President Bola Tinubu’s administration may be incumbent today, but the foundation for what we collectively experience today was laid by the PDP’s 16-year rule, which was fortunately truncated since the party had anticipated it would have 60 years to destroy Nigeria.
“Furthermore, with the appellation of ‘Ambassador,’ which he parades, Damagum is aware that Nigeria is a federating entity with 36 states and the FCT, out of which the PDP controls 13 states.
“The implication is that the PDP is still responsible for how one-third of the country is governed. So if there is bad governance, Damagum and his allies should accept part ownership instead of pretending that they made no contributions to the current state of affairs, which the incumbent Federal Government is trying to remedy.
“The Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) allocation to states has almost tripled since 2023. So far this year, states have received N379.41 billion, N366.950 billion, N398.689 billion, and N403 billion as statutory allocations from FAAC for January, February, March, and April, respectively, amounting to a total of N1.548 trillion disbursement to state governors alone in the first four months of the year.
“Similarly, the local government areas (LGAs), which operate more like state appendixes, have received N278.04 billion, N267.153 billion, N288.688 billion, and N293 billion, amounting to N1.126 trillion, yet 55 per cent of food perishes [due to a lack of] rural roads in states, including those controlled by the PDP, because the right things are not done.
“Has the PDP been able to point out that the states it controlled fare differently? No. Instead, the PDP has deepened the culture of perverted godfathers cornering state resources, as Nyesom Wike is attempting to do in Rivers State.
“Why did the PDP not lead a protest against hardship in the 13 states it controls and see the outcome of effectiveness as a precursor to such a campaign on a national scale?
“Another area we think Damagum deliberately played the ostrich with is ignoring the terrorism and foreign interest links of some of the organisers of the planned protests and how these same groups were behind the #OccupyNigeria protests and later the #EndSARS protests.
“We are further concerned by the revelation that Damagum and his associates, as sponsors of the planned protests, have engaged the services of Western media organisations and international NGOs to demonise the Federal Government, with a focus on claiming that it has lost legitimacy if the protests are allowed to go ahead.
“The PDP has reportedly lined up people to grant interviews to these media organisations to deepen the warped narrative that the protests should automatically be taken as a citizens’ referendum to sack the government. Again, playing with fire.
“Arising from the foregoing, the Conscience of Democracy in Nigeria hereby demands the resignation of Ambassador Iliya Umar Damagum as the Acting National Chairman of the PDP, having confirmed that he holds that position to undermine and sabotage Nigeria.
“We see Damagum’s support for the protest as a ploy to overthrow the government.
“We will not allow this to happen. We call on all Nigerians to stand against this attempt to destabilise our country.”