The newspapers for Monday, November 12, focus on the reactions that have trailed the reported search of Atiku Abubakar’s private jet of by security agents.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has condemned the reported search of a private jet belonging to its presidential candidate, Abubakar Atiku, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe international airport in Abuja on Sunday, November 11, by security agencies.
The Guardian reports that, Kola Ologbondiyan, the party’s national publicity secretary, in statement said the search on Atiku’s plane was carried out by security agencies acting on the orders from above.
The Guardian newspaper for Monday, November 12, 2018, Photo credit: snapshot from Legit.ng
“It was shocking when the deadly squad, in a Gestapo style attack, and acting on ‘orders from above’, rushed at our candidate immediately he landed and attempted to physically manhandle him before invading his aircraft with dangerous weapons to conduct a violent search. This deadly squad violently tampered with certain personal documents and gadgets belonging to him, including some of his campaign documents,” Kola Ologbondiyan said.
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“This is an attack on our democracy and the collective sensibility of the overwhelming majority of Nigerians, across board, who have accepted the choice of Atiku Abubakar as Nigeria’s next president and they will vigorously deploy every means available in a democracy to defend him and our democratic process.”
“We invite Buhari to recall that as a presidential candidate, he had occasions to travel out of the country and the government in power never besieged or harassed him in any way. His administration should therefore not introduce such violence in our democratic space.”
This Day reports that the leader of the Pan-Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, described the search of Atiku’s jet by security agencies as undemocratic.
On his part, the president of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief John Nnia Nwodo, warned that the treatment of Atiku does not portend good for the nation.
This Day newspaper for Monday, November 12, 2018, Photo credit: snapshot from Legit.ng
“This is scary moves. From Ike Ekweremadu to Atiku Abubakar, while Adams Oshiomhole and Orji Kalu under investigation and trial respectively move as they like. Thousands of Middle Belters murdered; no one is arrested,” Nwodo said.
“One Army General is killed, 17 guys, including a traditional ruler rounded up. This is what happens when qualification for positions in our security agencies is a function of where you come from rather than your competence.
Vanguard reports that Segun Showunmi, the spokesman of the Atiku presidential campaign organisation, said that the PDP presidential candidate remained resolute in his quest to defeat president Buhari in 2019.
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Showunmi urged the All Progressives Congress (APC) to brace up for the imminent defeat at the 2019 polls, adding that no amount of threat or intimidation could derail Atiku’s presidential ambition.
“I can confirm to you that His Excellency was searched but we don’t have any problem with that. However, we wish to state here that we cannot be intimidated.
Atiku is determined to set this nation free from the terrible economic squeeze it has been subjected to in the past three and a half years. They are jittery but the plot to use gestapo style of intimidation will not work,’’ Showunmi said.
Meanwhile, The Punch reports that Timi Frank, a former deputy national publicity secretary of the APC, has alleged that the security search on Atiku’s private jet was a plot to embarrass the PDP presidential candidate.
The Punch newspaper for Monday, November 12, 2018, Photo credit: snapshot from Legit.ng
Frank claimed that the security agents searched Atiku’s aircraft hoping to see if he returned to the country from Dubai with foreign currencies or any other implicating materials.
The former APC spokesperson said the search was a desperate bid by those in power to nail the PDP presidential candidate.
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To other news, Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo state has said the misunderstanding some governors on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) are having with the party’s national chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, was because of the change the chairman was introducing to the party.
The Nation reports that Obaseki made the statement on Sunday, November 11, when he spoke in Benin city at the Church of God Mission during a thanksgiving service to mark his second year in office.
The Nation newspaper for Monday, November 12, 2018, Photo credit: snapshot from Legit.ng
“What Oshiomhole is doing is to institute a regime of change where nobody is above the law," the Edo state governor said.
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Source: Legit.ng
