The All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign
Organisation (APCPCO) has made a formal complaint against Mrs. Patience
Jonathan, wife of Nigeria’s president, who during a rally in Calabar, Cross
River State last week, called on PDP supporters to “stone” anyone who came to
the state chanting change.
The letter of complaint signed by Rivers State Governor and
Director General of APCPCO, Rt. Hon Rotimi Amaechi, will on Monday, 9 March be
dispatched to the International Criminal Court (ICC), the Inspector General of
the Nigeria Police (IG) and the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), among
others.
According to Governor Amaechi, “Change, as the entire country
must know by now, is the slogan of the APC – the rallying cry of a political
party that wishes to bring hope of greater and better things to come for
Nigeria and Nigerians. By her statement, Mrs. Jonathan was clearly calling on
PDP supporters in Calabar to attack supporters and campaigners of the APC in
the state.”
The APCPCO likened some of Mrs. Jonathan’s inciting
statements and conduct during this political campaign season, to those of Mrs
Simone Gbagbo, wife of the former president of Cote D’Ivoire, Laurent Gbagbo,
prior to that country’s 2010 election. The ICC indicted Mrs. Gbagbo for her
part in planning to perpetrate brutal attacks – including murder, rape, and
sexual violence, on her husband’s political opponents in the wake of the 2010
election.
Mrs. Jonathan does not occupy any formal office in the
Nigerian government, as the position of First Lady is not recognized by the
Nigerian constitution. But Mrs. Gbagbo’s case shows the ICC’s awareness of how
someone beyond formal governmental and military hierarchies can be identified
as responsible for serious international crimes.
The APCPCO pointed out that Mrs. Jonathan’s incontrovertible
hate speech not only contravenes the laws of the land, but also goes completely
against the Abuja Peace Accord jointly signed by the two presidential
candidates, General Muhammadu Buhari and President Goodluck Jonathan – a
gesture which is aimed at forestalling violence before, during and after the
2015 elections.
“PDP supporters in the state who may not know better could
easily yield themselves to the First Lady’s admonition and embark on a process
of wanton stoning and other attacks against APC members,” Governor Amaechi
said.
The APCPCO also called on the Nigeria Police to put in place
emergency measures to protect the life and property of APC members in Calabar
and the entire Cross River State.
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