Violation of accord: Presidency drags PDP to Peace C’ttee

The Presidency has called on the National Peace Committee (NPC) to act on what it called a violation of the peace accord signed by presidential candidates in December by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

A statement by the Senior Special Assistant on Media & Publicity, Garba Shehu, accused the PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation (PDPPCO) of bad faith, character assassination and inflammatory utterances.

The PDPPCO had on Sunday urged the NPC and the United Nations (UN) to call President Muhammadu Buhari to order and save the country from what it called “imminent collapse”.

It described the President as a threat to the conduct of credible general elections in February and March.

But Shehu berated the Atiku Abubakar media campaign team for making open and unsubstantiated allegations against the President’s family by the contravenes the spirit of the peace accord that was signed at the instance of former Head of State,  Abdulsalami Abubakar, Bishop Mathew Kukah and other eminent public figures who constitute the committee.

He said: “Dragging the President’s family into the campaign and accusing them of wrongdoing without producing unassailable evidence, amounts to an act of bad faith and malice.

“Instead of concentrating their efforts on persuading Nigerians on why they should be trusted to rule again after 16 years of failure, the PDP presidential campaign organisation is seeking to divert public attention from the large scale corruption and havoc it wreaked on the country during its 16 years of misrule.”

He noted that more than a week after accusing President Buhari’s family of corruption and wrong doing, the PDP presidential campaign still cannot provide proof of the allegations against them, despite being encouraged by the Presidency and the public to do so.

“Instead, they are ridiculously expecting the accused to prove their own allegations instead of it being the other way round,” the presidential spokesman said.

Accusing the PDPPCO of being indolent and poor in research, Shehu noted that it was irresponsible to go public with allegations that they could not prove, describing that as something other than politics.

“It is sheer desperation and a clear sign of disarray in the PDP campaign,” he said.