Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Peter Obi (left); Chairman, LP, Julius Abure; LP chieftain, Alhaji Mohammed Audi and former Minister of Aviation, Fidelia Njezie during a world press conference on the 2023 general elections in Abuja…yesterday.
The Labour Party (LP) has disassociated itself from a plot to install an interim government.
A spokesperson for LP Yunusa Tanko while speaking on Channels Television’s Lunch Time Politics on Thursday said they are not involved in the plot.
The Department of State Services (DSS) on Wednesday confirmed that there was a plot to install an interim government.
DSS spokesman Peter Afunanya in a statement said some key players in the plan have been identified.
According to The Guardian, Tanko said the LP is not plotting any insurrection and described the development as a conspiracy against the state.
“We are not part of any insurrection plans whatsoever. But what I am saying is that we would protect the interest of Nigerian people based on the provisions of the law which provides that where you are hurting, you have the right to protest and that you would do so with the defence and protection of the Nigerian security apparatus.
“That is what we would do but we would not support any insurrection in any way.”
However, Tanko accused the DSS and other security agencies of not protecting the interest of the Nigerian state during the 2023 elections.
In its own version, titled “Interim govt: Nigerians won’t be intimidated into submission — Labour Party replies DSS”, Vanguard reports that the Labour Party has said it was confident that Nigerians wouldn’t be intimidated into abandoning their legitimate, legal right to seek judicial redress to reclaim their mandate which was freely given to the LP Presidential Candidate, Peter Obi which was brazenly stolen.
Chief Spokesperson of the Labour Party, Dr. Yunusa Tanko, said this in response to an alarm raised by the Department of State Services, in Abuja, yesterday.
The DSS alleged that some politicians were plotting to derail democracy through demonstrations and “obtaining frivolous court injunctions” to stop the inauguration of the President-Elect, Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu.
Yunusa said, “We are certain that Nigerians who want to take back their country will not be intimidated or blackmailed into abandoning a legitimate course.
“As a party, we have submitted ourselves to pursuing the course of justice through constitutional means, it will not serve as the interest of democracy collapses in Nigeria.
“We will like to ask, where was the DSS when our members and other Nigerians were being attacked, maimed, and killed especially in Lagos?
“Where was the DSS when MC Oluomo and his ilk were engaged in ethnic profiling and violence against Nigerians of a certain ethnic nationality over their democratic choices?
“We needed the DSS to step up its game then but it failed. If it had done what it was supposed to, our nation would have been better for it.
“ Now that Nigerians have decided to follow laid down democratic procedures of drawing attention to injustice warnings and threats are being issued.
“The DSS ought to have issued these warnings from the beginning to show Nigerians that this country belongs to all of us and not the personal fiefdom of an individual or a group.
“We urge the DSS to send these words of caution to those bigots who are pushing this country to the brink of disaster with their utterances and violent conduct against other peace-loving Nigerians who do not subscribe to their political views or speak their language.”
The DSS had on Wednesday said it had confirmed plots by some political actors to introduce an interim government in Nigeria.
President Muhammadu Buhari will finish his second tenure on May 29, just two months away, when president-elect Bola Tinubu is expected to be sworn in as the next Nigeria president.
Buhari at separate times had insisted that he does not plan to stay in office beyond the constitutional eight years – since May 29, 2015, when he took over from former President Goodluck Jonathan.
However, DSS spokesman Peter Afunanya in a statement said the secret police has identified some key players behind the plots traucate democracy after the 2023 general election.
Afunanya said the DSS “considers the plot being pursued by these entrenched interests as not only an aberration but a mischievous way to set aside the constitution and undermine civil rule as well as plunge the country into crisis.”
“The illegality is unacceptable in a democracy and to the peace-loving Nigerians,” Afunanya said.
The DSS spokesman said the plots to impose an interim government are being planned through protests in the country and court orders to block the transition of power to the next government.
Afunanya said the DSS supports the Trasition Council and Buhari in his avowed commitment to hitch-free handover and assured that the president will work to achieve it.
He said the DSS will collaborate with the council and other security agencies to ensure a seamless inauguration of the next government on May 29, 2023.
“Consequently, the service strongly warns those organising to thwart democracy in the country to retract from their devious schemes and orchestrations,” Afunanya said.
He urged media organisations, judicial authorities, and civil societies to be watchful and cautious to avoid being used as instruments to subvert peace and stability in Nigeria.
“While monitoring, the DSS will not hesitate to take decisive and necessary legal steps against these misguided elements to frustrate their obvious intentions.”
