The Katsina State chapter of the New Nigeria Peoples Party on Monday asked the Independent National Electoral Commission to disqualify the Peoples Democratic Party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar and his counterpart in the All Progressives Congress Bola Tinubu.
The state Chairman of the NNPP, Sani Litti, who made the call at a press conference in Katsina on Monday, alleged that the two parties’ presidential primaries were marred by financial crimes.
He also called for the arrest of Tinubu and Atiku by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Department of State Services. Litti alleged that no fewer than 50,000 Nigerians had lost their lives to banditry from 2015 to date.
He, therefore, called for the resignation of President Muhammadu Buhari because of what he described as insecurity in the country.
The chairman also charged members of the National Assembly to commence the impeachment of the President if he refused to resign.
He also called for the declaration of a state of emergency in Katsina, Kaduna, Zamfara, Niger and Sokoto states due to security challenges.
Litti advised the Federal Government to also hire mercenaries for six months to fight the banditry, insurgents and tribal militias, adding that Government should thereafter recruit one million young Nigerians who should be trained as special forces to secure the country after the exit of the mercenaries.
He stated, “ We reinstate the call on President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately resign from office for his inability to secure Nigeria. Insecurity issues keep rising due principally to bad governance including a rise in poverty, poor economic policies, a fall in the standard of living of the people, an upsurge of ethnic militias, an increase in corruption activities, crime and criminal activities, an increase in the use of drugs and several factors.
“In the event of the President refusing to resign, we urge the National Assembly to apply constitutional means to save the lives and properties of Nigerians.
“The government of Nigeria should as a matter of urgency declare a state of emergency on security in the following states: Katsina; Kaduna; Zamfara; Niger and Sokoto states.
“In this respect, we are calling on the Federal Government to immediately hire mercenaries for six months from whenever to fight the rising banditry, insurgency and tribal militias. Similarly, the government should as a matter of urgency recruit one million young Nigerians to be trained as Special Forces to protect and secure the country when the mercenaries leave in six months.”
The NNPP also called for the arrest and prosecution of Atiku and Tinubu over what it said, transpired during the conventions where they were elected standard-bearers for their respective parties in the 2023 general elections.
The NNPP declared,” We call on INEC to disqualify Atiku Abubakar,Bola Ahmed Tinubu from contesting the presidential election in 2023 and also for the EFCC, the Police and DSS to arrest them and all other actors who participated in the convention. We believe that should any one of these two wins the election next year, the country will slide into deeper corruption and financial crimes because the process which produces them is rooted in corruption.”
One of the party’s chieftains at the press conference, Dr Muttaqa Darma, justified the timing of the press conference, insisting that it was the appropriate time as the nation was preparing for general elections.
When contacted, the Director of Media and Communication for Tinubu Campaign Organisation, Bayo Onanuga, said, “I have not seen any petition to that effect from the NNPP. I also think the APC publicity secretary is in a better position to address this issue.”
Also, the APC National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, stated, “I have not read the NNPP’s call for the disqualification of our party candidate. You can forward the statement or press statement to me. I cannot react to what I have not seen.
“If I read the statement and decide that it is important enough to respond, I will release a statement to address it. Responding to you is not my only option, I can call a press conference tomorrow and deal with it if I think it is that serious.”
When contacted, the PDP spokesman, Debo Ologunagba, said he was not aware of the NNPP’s allegation, adding that he has to see Litti’s statement before he would respond.