All Progressives Congress (APC) has accused the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) of disrupting its own rally in Kaduna State on Monday.
The ruling party denied any involvement in the incident and asked security agencies to probe the attack to unmask and prosecute the culprits.
It stated categorically that it had nothing to do with the attack “as irresponsibly alleged by the PDP”, adding that there was no reason for it to be perturbed by the rally.
The APC said the PDP had no one but itself to blame for the violent incident at the rally because “the incident was simply a matter of a rented crowd that went irate when the party’s rent-a-crowd managers disappeared with funds meant to pay for the rented crowd.”
Some unidentified thugs had on Monday disrupted the PDP rally in Kaduna State, beating the party supporters who gathered at the event.
The party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, had condemned the attack, describing it as undemocratic, even as he urged President Muhammadu Buhari to call supporters of all political parties in order to forestall a recurrence.
But in a statement by APC national publicity secretary, Mr Felix Morka, the party said though the ugly incident was wrong, it was regrettably self-inflicted.
Morka said, “As a party, we abhor and condemn any and all forms of violence and interference in the activities or events of any political party. Every party is entitled to conduct its legitimate activities in peace and security. And every party has a right to equal protection of the law. Perpetrators of disruptive and other acts of violence must be brought to justice.
“However, the PDP has no one but itself to blame for the violent incident at its rally in Kaduna. The incident was simply a matter of a rented crowd that went irate when the Party’s rent-a-crowd managers disappeared with funds meant to pay for the rented crowd,” he said.
