Femi Fani-Kayode, Director of New Media for the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council, has called for the arrest of the Peoples Democratic Party and Labour Party presidential and vice-presidential candidates in the 2023 election.
They should be arrested, according to the former aviation minister, for allegedly encouraging and plotting a coup in the country.
In the February 25 presidential election, the PDP’s presidential candidate is Atiku Abubakar, and the Labour Party’s presidential candidate is Peter Obi. Their running mates are Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa and Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed.
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Fani-Kayode condemned Wednesday’s #FreeNigeriaMovement protest against the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Dr Mahmood Yakubu, and the conduct of the February 25 presidential election.
He called their apparent open call for a coup to thwart the handover and inauguration of Bola Tinubu, the proclaimed election winner, a treasonable felony.
Fani-Kayode said, “Shielding and protecting them from being held accountable for their utterances and actions and for supporting anarchy, chaos, treason and rebellion is becoming increasingly dangerous and does not augur well for the peace and stability of our country.
“It is also important to arrest and charge to court those young men and women that participated in Tuesday’s protest and openly called for a coup d’état in order to deter others from doing so.”
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He did, however, warn that if Obi, Atiku, the demonstrators, and their collaborators are not arrested, it will encourage others to do the same, adding that “there is lot more to the whole issue than meets the eye.”
Fani-Kayode praised the Federal Government for prohibiting anti-inauguration protests, calling it “encouraging.”
He said it “is a clear indication of the total commitment of President Muhammadu Buhari administration to preserving and protecting democracy and to ensuring that there is a smooth transition of power to the incoming President-elect and his Government.”
He continued, “It is this clear commitment that has kept the peace and given us hope in spite of the shenanigans and mischief of an irresponsible, bitter, vicious, dangerous, petty, hostile and increasingly desperate, bellicose and violent opposition who are capable of doing anything to take power.
“It is time for the intelligence and security agencies and the Buhari administration to rise to the occasion and face the challenge of these subversive and destabilising elements squarely and with a very firm hand.”
He vowed that if necessary, he would protect Tinubu’s mandate as ‘President-elect’ with his last drop of blood.
Similarly, Festus Keyamo, the APC PCC’s spokesperson, wrote to the Department of State Services (DSS) a few weeks ago, requesting that Obi and his deputy, Baba-Ahmed, be arrested for suspected inciting.
Fani-Kayode’s statement titled, “Arrest The Rebels And Treasonable Subversives,” reads, “Last Tuesday I was sent a video of an angry crowd of members of the opposition violently marching through the streets of our nation’s capital Abuja, loudly chanting and proclaiming that the INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmoud Yakubu, was nothing but “a thief” and that the inauguration of our President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, which is scheduled to hold on May 29th must not be allowed to proceed.
“As if that were not bad enough, later on the same day I was sent another video which showed the same members of the opposition protesting at the gates of Defence Headquarters in Abuja and loudly calling on the military to take over power in our country.
“Assuming these videos are authentic these acts are not only outrageous, subversive and dangerous but they are also acts of treason, rebellion and insurrection.
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“We have warned about these sinister plots and plans for months and well before the presidential elections but no one took us seriously and it was to no avail.
“Now the signs are obvious and ominous and it is clear that there is something evil afoot.
“It is heartwarming and encouraging that the DSS, as alive to their duties as ever, finally issued a statement yesterday in which they vindicated us.
“They confirmed the fact that there were some elements within the political class that were planning to use violence to impose an Interim National Government and went on to not only warn those that seek to implement this hidden agenda but also to assure those of us that are against it that they would take strong measures and move against them.
“This is vital in order for us to protect and save our democracy from those that seek to truncate it and establish an unconstitutional form of Government in its stead.
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“It is incumbent upon us all as democrats to speak out in support of the DSS and to help them thwart the evil plans of the unscrupulous conspirators, dangerous plotters, unpatriotic elements and fascistic forces that want to topple our Government and abort the democratic process.”
He continued, “For 16 years, from 1983 till 1999, many of us fought against military rule and paid a high price in that fight. Others that came before us fought it between 1966 and 1979. They also paid a high price.
“During the course of all those years many suffered, many were tortured, many were exiled, many lost everything, many were destroyed, many were jailed and many were martyred.
“These young ones that are protesting have no idea about the inherent horrors of military rule and what it really means because they were not born when the soldiers held sway in our country and they do not know the indignities and bondage that we were subjected to as a people during the course of those years.
“The fact that some are openly calling for a return to those dark days gives many of us deep concern.
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“The last thing we need in our country today is military intervention, a military coup d’etat or any other form of unconstitutional Government including an Interim National Government.
“It is obvious that these young ones that are calling for military intervention are being encouraged, sponsored and used by elements in the opposition to truncate our democracy.
“When one couples these calls for a coup d’etat with the words of Datti Baba Ahmed, the Vice Presidential candidate of the Labour Party, on Channels Television last week when he said that he had no faith in the courts and election tribunals, that the swearing-in of President-elect Tinubu as President would be an invitation to a military coup, that Tinubu is a Mafia Don that is deeply involved in organised crime and that his swearing-in would be a danger to “all our lives”, one gets the message and can connect the dots of this great conspiracy.
“The Atiku group through their numerous spokespersons have said equally disturbing things including consistently calling the President-elect a “Pablo Escobar-like drug baron” in order to incite the people, the international community, the civil society, the people of Nigeria and the Nigerian Armed Forces against him.
“Outside of that the opposition have also targeted INEC and the Nigerian Judiciary for a campaign of calumny, demonisation and destruction and they have engaged and induced elements in the international community, including politicians, leaders, businessmen, diplomats, international institutions and both local and foreign NGO’s, who they have misled and fed with the most horrendous lies and propaganda, to assist them.
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“It is time for the intelligence and security agencies and the Buhari administration to rise to the occasion and face the challenge of these subversive and destabilising elements squarely and with a very firm hand.
“They should arrest those that appear to be behind this evil plot including Peter Obi, Dati Baba Ahmed, Atiku Abubakar, Ifeanyi Okowa and their numerous spokesmen, associates and foreign collaborators in order to find out exactly what their role is in this matter and the part, if any, that they are playing in it.
“They should also identify, ascertain and arrest their collaborators, both foreign and local, in this treasonous plot.
“None of them enjoys immunity and none of them are above the law.
“Shielding and protecting them from being held accountable for their utterances and actions and for supporting anarchy, chaos, treason and rebellion is becoming increasingly dangerous and does not augur well for the peace and stability of our country.
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“It is also important to arrest and charge to court those young men and women that participated in Tuesday’s protest and openly called for a coup d’etat in order to deter others from doing so.”
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