Demolition Of Sarki’s Property: It Is Part Of APC’s Hounding Of Opposition — PDP

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has on Thursday condemned, in the strongest terms, the demolition of a property belonging to former Senate President, Bukola Saraki, by the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led Kwara state government.

The PDP described the invasion and demolition as wicked, cowardly and a direct recipe for huge crisis in the state.

Recall that the APC has cleared the air on the demolition, insisting that the property demolished is not Saraki’s Ancestral home.

“The property being reclaimed by the Kwara State Government is not Saraki’s ancestral home as is being portrayed in some sections of the media”.

“Saraki’s ancestral home is in Agbaji (Ilorin) while the property at issue is used for political meetings in the heart of the GRA, Ilorin”.

The Government’s position is that the land was (and still is) a public property originally meant for the construction of the Govt Secretariat, a Civil Service Clinic, and a parking lot for the two. However, ownership of the property was spuriously transferred to a private firm and for commercial purposes without the firm paying a kobo to the government or obtain.

However, In a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Mr Kola Olongbodiyan, the PDP holds that “it is clear that the action of the state government is borne out of ‘hatred and political’ intolerance, in furtherance of the larger plot by the APC and its administration to intimidate, suppress, hound, crush and silence opposition and dissenting voices in the country, in the bid to foist a siege mentality on the citizenry”.

The PDP dismisses the reasons given by the APC administration for the act as baseless, false and incongruous, saying they fail to add up, to justify the demolition of the said property.

“The demolition is a complete subversion of the rule of law as the matter is already in court. The APC-led Kwara state government could not wait for the outcome of the court process apparently because it knows that it is pursuing an illegal agenda”.

“Nigerians know how the APC and its government have been allegedly hounding, harassing and dragging Senator Saraki around over trumped-up charges, for daring to be among compatriots at the forefront of the quest to rescue our nation from misrule and strangleholds of the APC and its cabal”.

“The APC and Kwara state government should perish their idea of trying to use false claims and propaganda to justify their wicked act and take over the property, as such cannot hoodwink Nigerians from the truth”.

The PDP also condemned the timing of the demolition, saying the Kwara state government has ulterior motives, “ the timing of the invasion and demolition, in the wee hours and under the cover of darkness, is a direct indication that the state government was carrying out an unwholesome and condemnable operation during which defenceless women were allegedly fired with gunshots”.

“The PDP invites Nigerians to note that demolition of property, genuinely belonging to opposition leaders and other Nigerians perceived to be opposed to APC’s oppressive administration, has become a policy of the APC and its government in their bid to subjugate Nigerians and exclusively appropriate our common patrimony for their selfish purposes”.

“Nigerians have not forgotten how APC leaders, including those at the Presidency, applauded whenever property belonging to perceived political opponents was unjustly and viciously pulled down in APC-controlled states and even in Abuja”.

“The PDP, however, cautions the APC, its administration, and in this particular case, the Kwara state government, against crossing the boundaries and stretching the forbearance of the people, which is already causing a tension that could trigger serious unrest in our country”.

“It is also instructive to note that in the years the PDP governed Kwara state, there was no case of government demolishing the property of opposition members or supporters under any guise whatsoever”.