From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
The national leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has defended its decision to mobilise police to the secretariat, confirming that it was based on the security report available to it.
APC headquarters wore a semblance of a battlefield in the early hours of Monday, as policemen, loaded in over five Hillux Patrol Vans took over the party secretariat.
The police team numbering over 30 had strategically positioned themselves within the secretariat along Blantyre street, without harassing passersby and the motorists using the street.
Daily Sun correspondent who monitored the situation reported that the gun-wielding, battle ready policemen did not allow any vehicle park within secretariat vicinity, including those from the staff, the visitors and the journalists that arrived there early.
Although the presence of the police awakened reminisce of the dark days of the former National Chairman APC National Working Committee (NWC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, however the difference is that nobody was subjected to any undue harassment by the security operatives.
In fact the situation looked more tensed at about 11.30am, when fully-loaded police patrol van, numbering over 10, paraded the Blantyre street housing the secretariat and the adjoining streets, in a fashion to forestall any attempt to disrupt activities in the areas.
Reacting to the situation, the National Secretary APC Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee, Sen John James Akpanudoedehe, said the party’s leadership acted based on security report.
He maintained that though the position of the Caretaker Committee Chairman, Governor Mai Mala Buni, is not under any form of threat, the leadership of the party cannot fold their hands and watch disgruntled elements embarrass President Muhammadu Buhari and the party.
On why the police occupation, the party’s chief scribe, said: “the police are here on invitation of party leadership led by Governor Buni, the Caretaker Committee chairman of the APC. What do I mean by that? Whenever you read a security situation, whenever you heard of security report, it is incumbent on our part to strengthen so that we can protect the lives and property of APC.
“APC cannot be embarrassed because this is a national government, therefore we have to take measures to forestall any happenings. We cannot underestimate security report, we cannot play it down. We have a security report, we can’t take laws into our hands, you can’t expect us to call thugs to defend the national secretariat. The right thing to do is to inform the police and the DSS so that they may know whoever gave the report that so so thing has happened.
“We are going to take measures. Another measure we want to take is that if you don’t have your face mask, you will not be able to enter the national Secretariat. We are going to also start testing people now because of the Delta variant. That does not mean that the virus has taken over the Secretariat due to extension of COVID-19. So, that is what it is. Is a measure to protect the property and lives.
“For instance, if you have a protest and a media man is killed or brutalised, it will be a big news that somebody has been shot at the national secretariat. It is our responsibility as managers of this party to put measures to protect lives and property,” he said.
On how much of the security report at the disposal of the party’s leadership, he said: “No one should take anything for granted and even as little as rumour, we must put everything in place, including the one that is not verifiable. We must put it in place because we cannot be embarrassed. I am privileged to have been a Minister of FCT, I have been privileged to have been a Local Government Area chairman, I am also privileged to have sat on Federal Executive Council and I have been privileged to have also sat as member security and intelligence committee of the senate.
“So, what we consider to be threat is not what people consider to be threat. A mere word of expression is enough to heighten it because we don’t want to be embarrassed.
“We always have police here, this is APC that produced the national government. We cannot embarrass the president, we cannot embarrass the government of APC, we cannot embarrass ourselves,” he quipped.
Dismissing the speculation that the position of the chairman is under threat, he thundered: “How can the chairman’s position be threatened? No, his position is not threaten. Read the judgement of the supreme Court. The chairman is as firm as ever.”