The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has warned the Nigeria Police Force against the arrest of Kassim Afegbua, spokesman of former Military President, Ibrahim Babangida.
His arrest, the leading opposition party said, would amount to a violation of Afegbua’s rights and a threat to the nation’s democracy.
The party made its position known on Tuesday in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Kola Ologbodiyan, over Police’ declaration of Afegbua wanted.
The police is after Afegbua over the statement he issued on Sunday on behalf of Babangida, advising President Muhammadu Buhari not to remain in office beyond 2019.
The advice, Babangida said, was to allow young and dynamic leaders who would be able to tackle the problems of the country take over the administration of the country.
But in its statement, the PDP warned the police not to allow it to be used by the “sinking All Progressives Congress (APC) as instruments of persecution against Nigerians perceived to be unsupportive of the unpopular re-election bid of President Muhammodu Buhari.”
The PDP said it believed that the move to arrest Afegbua was a ploy to set the table for a vicious muzzling of constitutionally guaranteed free speech and right to opinion of citizens in the country.
The party said the alleged harassment of perceived opponents of the APC, supposed and actual presidential hopefuls as well as opposition members, had shown show that the APC had become jittery.
It said the APC had realised that its chances of winning the 2019 general election had already vanished.
The party said the actions of the APC was a threat to the nation’s democracy and “symptomatic of a failed party that is prepared to turn against the citizens in a desperate bid to hang on to power against the will of the people.”
“We now have a terrifying situation where people are harassed for daring to aspire for certain elective offices or even express opinion regarding governance in the country.
“Nigerians and the international community have seen that almost all those who have openly expressed, or perceived to be nursing ambition for certain offices, including the presidency, are now facing one trumped up charge or the other, ostensibly meant to cow and discredit them.
“The point is that the APC has refused to wake up to the reality of the fact that Nigerians have already reached a consensus rejecting them and that no amount of threats, intimidation and persecution with state apparatus of power can subjugate or make them change that determined resolve to vote out APC and its candidates come 2019,” the party stated.