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The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Nasarawa State, has accused the State Police Command of frustrating its campaign flag-off earlier scheduled to hold on November 28.
The development forced the party to shift the flag-off date which was expected to take place in the Toto local government area of the state to Tuesday, November 29.
Our correspondent reports that both the main opposition party and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) had slated their flag-offs for the same local government.
The dates were also in conflict as both parties fixed November 28 for the event.
However, PDP chairman in the state, Francis Orogu, in an interview with journalists, explained that his party sought and obtained permission to hold the event at the disputed date first before the police issued a directive stopping the program.
He said the police hinged the reason for the stoppage on the stand of the chairman of Toto local government that he was not informed of the development.
He said, “He (CP) said he was informed by the Toto Local Government chairman that he is not aware of our coming.
“This is laughable, and to us democratically mischievous because we know that the Commissioner of Police knows that the chairman of a local government has no space under the Electoral Act to be informed and secure permission to campaign in his local government.”
Speaking in the same vein, the former minister of information, who is also the director-general of the PDP campaign council in the state, Mr. Labaran Maku, described the development as unfortunate and sad.
He urged the police to avoid being used as political tools by the ruling party, and discharge their duties without fear or favor.
“It is strange that 48 hours to going to our campaign rally, we suddenly received this letter despite the fact that our party was the first to notify the police of our campaign schedule.
“We are giving the Nigeria Police Force the benefit of the doubt that we are law-abiding but we hope the remaining schedule will not be disrupted,” he noted.
He appealed to the party supporters in Toto local government to be law abiding in spite of what has happened.
However, the police command says its intention was not to frustrate the party from holding the rally.
The command’s Public Relations Officer, DSP Ramhan Nansel, told journalists in Lafia, on Saturday, that the Commissioner of Police, Mohammed-Baba Maiyaki, only advised the PDP to shift its rally to the next day in order to enable it to provide adequate security at the event.
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How police frustrate our campaign flag off ― Nasarawa PDP
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