Chuks Okocha
10 November 2009
Abuja — The war of words between the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and opposition political parties continued as the opposition political parties reacted to the statement by one of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) stalwart, Engr. Buba Galadima, who called for a violent change of government.
PDP, in a statement Sunday, condemned the demand for violent change, describing it as undemocratic.
But another fresh statement by the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) said PDP should be held responsible for making peaceful change impossible.
"PDP in the event of violent change should be held responsible. For the avoidance of doubt, CNPP has carefully reviewed Engr. Buba Galadima's statement and agreed with him that PDP should acknowledge the great saying of Edmund Burke that, 'those who make peaceful change impossible, makes violent change inevitable.'
"This is what we understand from his statement, a reflection of the thought of the voiceless Nigerians. PDP's electoral phobia is the greatest threat to peaceful change in Nigeria," the party said.
According to the spokesman of the opposition political parties, Osita Okechukwu, "It is our considered view that PDP has in the past 10 years been subverting our nascent democracy; to the extent that both local and international observers have ruled out the possibility offree, fair and transparent elections in Nigeria."
But in a swift reaction, PDP described the statement as "ranting of empty barrels that make the greatest noise."
According to the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Prof. Ahmed Alkali, "What is CNPP. Is it a registered political party.
Where is the office of CNPP located.? Who are the leaders of CNPP, how do they fund their activities.?"
He also said, "We are not surprised that this is coming from them. There is great inconsistency from them. At one time, they are calling for democracy, at another time, they are calling for violent change. What do they stand for.? They are consistently inconsistent."
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