Any move by the Muhammadu Buhari government to declare a state of emergency in Anambra could worsen the security situation in the state, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) warns.
Attorney-general Abubakar Malami had Wednesday said all options, including the declaration of a state of emergency, were on the table to secure the state ahead of its November 6 governorship election.
But the PDP has told the All Progressives Congress (APC) government to not dare, adding that it could make things worse.
“This demand is predicated on apprehensions in the public space that the spate of insecurity in Anambra is contrived to heighten tension in the state so as to derail the democratic process to the advantage of the APC,” PDP spokesperson Kola Ologbondiyan said in a statement.
“…we, therefore, invite the President Muhammadu Buhari-led APC Federal Government to be guided accordingly.
“Our party also charges the people of Anambra state to remain calm and alert as well as take steps within the ambits of the law to resist plots by the APC to derail the electoral process in its inordinate ambition to seize Anambra through the back door.”
Also, Anambra information commissioner Don Adinuba said that such a declaration would confirm to all that the insecurity bedevilling the state is politically engineered.
Adinuba told Punch:
“Since the renewed violence in Anambra state which we believe is politically motivated, not more than 15 persons have been killed. How many persons have died in Borno, Niger, Kaduna, Yobe, Zamfara, even Imo, which is APC-controlled, Ebonyi, which is APC-controlled?
“Has anybody threatened emergency rule in any of these states? “For the past seven years, Anambra has remained the safest state, most stable in Nigeria.
“We remain the only state in the whole country that for the past seven years has not experienced one single bank robbery.
“What is going on is politically motivated and the declaration by the honourable Attorney-General of the Federation is a confirmation.”
