APC Raises Alarm On Plan To Arrest Asiwaju Bola Tinubu This Week

by Deji Abiodun

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has alleged that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)-led federal government has planned to arrest its national leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and charge him with trumped-up charges to cripple the party.

The party said if the plan hatched by the PDP is carried out, it would put the country into chaos.

The National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, made the allegation yesterday at a press briefing in Lagos. He said, “Without mincing words, we are aware that a ‘red alert’ has been sent to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to arrest the national leader of our party, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu on trumped-up charges anytime from now.

“In addition, anyone who is suspected of being a financier of the APC is to be arrested, all in efforts to decapitate the main opposition party, which is undoubtedly cruising to victory in the forthcoming elections.

“And as part of the offensive against the APC in the days ahead, there is a plan to freeze the accounts of companies, individuals and organisations believed to be financing the party, with the ultimate objective of crippling the party so that it won’t be able to sustain its activities, like paying its agents on election day, and other logistics.

“We can tell you that this planned arrest is orchestrated by the same people who have sponsored a series of protests to the EFCC on the basis of the same documentary against Asiwaju, which they also masterminded. It may sound like an intrigue, but that is exactly what it is.”

He recalled that during the meeting of the PDP governors in Lagos on March 10, Governor Sule Lamido of Jigawa State said openly that all that needed to be done to break the APC was to arrest two of its leaders.

Mohammed further noted that the six-week postponement of the elections, which the PDP government at the centre orchestrated, with the objective of slowing down APC’s momentum and giving the government time to regain lost ground, has failed to achieve that objective; hence the resort to more dirty tactics of framing up APC leaders.

He also explained that his party had nothing to do with the alleged APC radio station, which the PDP claimed was being used to destabilise the polity.

“We state categorically that we have nothing to do with that radio station. We believe strongly that the radio station is the handiwork of the same people who are accusing us of establishing it. Their main reason for setting up the station is simple: to use it as another excuse to clamp down on our leaders.

“They are the ones who set up the station. They are the ones who announced its establishment to the whole country, and now they are the ones who are trying to leverage it to arrest our leaders.

But in a reaction yesterday, the Director of Media and Publicity of the PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, said the claim by the APC, that the federal government had planned to use the EFCC to arrest Senator Bola Tinubu on trumped-up charges was false.
“We have said it before and we shall say it again: members of the APC are not only delusional, they are suffering from chronic paranoia. Why should Tinubu be scared of arrest if he has done nothing wrong? Why should Buhari be scared of the EFCC if he is clean? They should stop raising all these false alarms. They should just grow up. “We are far too busy and focused on winning an election than on planning any witch hunt. Those that have a case to answer know who they are; and eventually, they will be made to answer that case. Whether it be for murder, theft or graft, they will surely answer that case, sooner than later. God will see to that.

“The radio station they set up to throw Nigeria into chaos when they lose the election has been exposed, and we are waiting for them to begin their incitement. When that happens, everyone of them will be arrested and made to face the full wrath of the law. Defeat is staring them in the face and they are having sleepless nights. That is what has informed all this rubbish they keep peddling out on a daily basis. Let them be clear about one thing: no matter what they say or do on March 28, this matter will be settled once and for all, and they shall be utterly humiliated at the polls.

“When that happens, and when the president gets a fresh mandate, we will revisit all the issues and very serious allegations that have been made against Buhari, Tinubu, Saraki, Amaechi, Shettima and all the other APC leaders. They should prepare for the very worse because nothing but humiliation, defeat, shame and dark days lie ahead of them,” Fani-Kayode said.