Nigeria’s main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said that the no-fly zone declared in Zamfara State is a plot by the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led Federal Government to declare a state of emergency in the state. PDP National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, at a press conference in Abuja, said the APC has resorted to this measure after it has failed to pressurise Governor Bello Matawalle to decamp from PDP to APC.
Ologbondiyan noted that the APC’s plot to derail Matawalle’s administration and forcefully take over the control of Zamfara State started immediately after the Supreme Court judgement in 2019 that awarded victory to the governor. He described as disturbing, the alleged attempt by some APC leaders to seek political capital out of the situation in Zamfara State, which he blamed on the failure of the APC-led administration.
“Our party rejects this attempt by power-mongers in the APC administration to undermine and subvert the democratic order in Zamfara State by creating the impression that the state government, under Governor Matawalle, is to blame for the failures of the APC-led Federal Government to contain insecurity in the state,” he added.
Ologbondiyan wondered why Zamfara State should be singled out where there is escalated banditry, terrorism, kidnapping and other forms of violent acts in APC-controlled states like Kaduna, Katsina, Borno, Yobe, Niger, Nasarawa, Plateau and Kogi, yet there was no attempt by the presidency to seek to impose a state of emergency or declare such states as no-fly zone. Rather than the selective approach to the fight against banditry, terrorism and kidnapping, he advised the presidency go back to the drawing board and adopt a holistic approach to quell the prevailing insecurity in the country.
He also noted that Matawalle is not the first governor, particularly in the North-West, to adopt dialogue solution to tackle insecurity in the country, adding that the governor adopted an intervention approach as a distressed measure following the failures of the presidency to guarantee the security of lives and property in the state. “Consequently, the PDP hereby directs Governor Matawalle to stop his intervention approach as our party charges Nigerians to hold President Buhari and his administration directly responsible for any further assault or killing of innocent citizens in Zamfara State.
“In doing this, the PDP charges President Buhari to be mindful of the type of advice he receives from his officials in the security circle on this Zamfara security concerns, especially as there are allegations of hidden interest among his officials,” he said. The PDP spokesperson recalled the allegations of complicity levelled against the National Security Adviser (NSA), Maj-Gen. Babagana Monguno (rtd), in the unfortunate situation in Zamfara State, and called for investigation.