Alleged Inciting Comment: Turaki-Led PDP Backs Makinde, Calls APC Guilty Aggressor

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) led by Tanimu Turaki has rallied in support of Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, dismissing accusations by the All Progressives Congress (APC) that his recent remarks at the Ibadan Opposition Summit amounted to incitement to violence.

In a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Ini Ememobong, the PDP instead blamed the Federal Government and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) for what it described as a growing threat to peace and democracy.

The party said the controversy stemmed from comments made by Makinde during the opposition parties’ national summit held in Ibadan on April 25, 2026, where he referenced the historical “wetie” crisis.

According to the PDP, the reference was not a call to violence but a cautionary note.

“The use of history in the way and manner done by Governor Makinde… served as a caution and advisory to the Federal Government, the APC, and other national institutions, of the unmitigated crisis that their actions and inactions can result in.”

The statement accused the APC of misinterpreting the comment out of political desperation.

“Only a guilty aggressor can interpret it to mean a threat or call to violence. It is common knowledge that those who do not learn from history are doomed by it.”

Defending Makinde’s position, the PDP said his remarks were intended as a warning against political excesses and suppression of opposition voices.

“Governor Makinde offered a sobering reminder that when insatiable political greed and avarice replace patriotism and good governance… the resultant conflagration will be of immeasurable proportion.”

The opposition party further alleged that current political developments under President Bola Tinubu mirror past events that led to political unrest in Nigeria.

“The events that led to the sad incident of ‘wetie’ and the current happenings within the political space, as orchestrated by the APC, are not just similar but identical in both intent and execution.”

In a direct attack, the PDP accused the ruling party of engineering a drift toward authoritarianism.

“The current slide into elected totalitarianism has been entirely engineered by the APC and the Federal Government. They cannot decry the effect while remaining willfully blind to the cause.”

The statement also revisited past rhetoric attributed to the APC during its days in opposition.

“When the APC was in opposition, they did not merely threaten violence, they openly promised to make the country ungovernable… They therefore lack any moral capacity to complain.”

Warning of political consequences, the PDP said opposition parties would continue to resist attempts to establish a one-party state.

“As long as the targeted state-sponsored decimation of the opposition continues, the opposition parties will explore increasingly potent strategies, entirely within the ambit of the law.”

The party concluded by placing responsibility for any potential electoral violence ahead of the 2027 general elections squarely on the ruling authorities.

“The responsibility for any violence… lies squarely at the doors of the Federal Government, the APC, INEC, and every national institution charged with the defence of democracy.”

The statement underscores deepening political tensions between the ruling party and opposition blocs as the country inches closer to the next election cycle.