The governing Peoples Democratic Party in Osun State has urged Inspector General of Police Usman Baba to disregard petitions from the ‘lazy’ opposition All Progressives Congress seeking for the arrest of PDP officials in the state.
This information was provided by the Osun PDP in a statement made accessible to journalists on Friday and signed by the chairman of its caretaker committee, Dr. Akindele Adekunle.
The PDP also cautioned the APC from engaging in “lazy politics,” which it referred to as “circumventing the will of the people,” when playing politics.
According to the statement, the PDP has asked the APC “to learn playing politics by the rules and not always scheming to circumvent the will of the people, warning that such habitual laziness and opportunistic tendencies will burst out of the roof and throw the country into flames.”
Continuing the ruling party noted that the APC National Secretary, Iyiola Omisore, had been “pressurising the Inspector General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba through thoughtless petitions aimed at turning Osun into a police state, to hound, harass and arrest innocent leaders of the PDP in the state, with the warped thought of avoiding another electoral defeat.
“PDP reckoned that such lazy audacity is dangerous in a determined society where people are poised to invest their electoral franchise in the PDP as the only political party walking the talks of their wellbeing as against the APC’s mantra of force of poverty to suppress and repress the people.
“We warn that the APC national secretary, Iyiola Omisore and his co-travellers in this latest voyage should exercise restraints and stop underestimating the strength and determination of the good people of Osun State.”
The PDP further said that attempting to intimidate and harass members of the public using the police would only work against the opposition party.
They further encouraged the IG to defy pressure and ignore any accusations made by the APC against the party, claiming that they are all untrue.
“The PDP understands that the IGP, Baba Usman is under intense pressure to carry out hatchet jobs of indiscriminate harassment and arrest of PDP leaders ahead of rescheduled state assembly election in Osun State. We however advise the police boss to be diligent and see through the evil plans at this hour of our national life and refuse to be pressured into dangerous politics of insatiable hounding of perceived political opponents.
“We are not unaware of presence and housing of the police team sent to Osun State from Abuja to effect indiscriminate arrests of PDP stalwarts in Osun are presently being teleguided in the Ile-Ife house of Iyiola Omisore. Let it be known that Osun people will resist all attempt to intimidate or cow them into submission.
“Democracy is about good governance and Apc was rejected by the people of the state because they fell short of it. The police must therefore not be a willing tool to reinforce failure in our nation and Osun State in particular.
“The IGP will do well to investigate properly, all lies and unfounded accusation cramped on his table by Omisore and other serial election riggers, who are merely looking for police accomplice or partnership to subvert the inevitable electoral verdict of Osun people,” the statement read.
The party also urged President Muhammadu Buhari to “beam his searchlight on the nefarious plans of the APC to disrupt the peace of the state using the police ahead of the coming election,” adding that elections should not be war for those who are accepted by the people.
The PDP urged the IGP to instead conduct a proper investigation of APC “political warmongers, whose only route to self survival is violence and bloodshed,” saying that the people of Osun should not be taken for granted.
The party urged the state commissioner of police to carry himself and his work with professionalism.
