The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) fired back on Monday at the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) over the latter’s stance on the recent wave of deaths caused by stampedes at palliatives distribution sites.
In a statement, APC spokesman Felix Morka said Nigerians have not forgotten the ill-fated 2014 recruiting exercise for the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), which resulted in the deaths of some desperate job applicants.
He claimed that in the midst of national sadness over stampedes in Oyo, Anambra, and the Federal Capital Territory that killed civilians, the PDP took advantage of the situation to engage in callous political chicanery.
“Rather than really sympathize with the victims and their families, the PDP opted to politicize the victims’ grief by blaming the stampedes on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s All Progressives Congress (APC) administration.
“The tragedies have united all well-meaning Nigerians in sadness and sober contemplation on how the disasters may have been prevented with greater preparation and organization by all parties concerned. Our thoughts and prayers are still with the victims and their families.
“It is highly disrespectful, insensitive, and nasty for the PDP to use these unfortunate tragedies in a pointless attack on the administration that has dedicated itself to rebuilding the rubble of nearly two decades of PDP rule.
“Nigerians have not forgotten the sad stampede at the ill-fated Nigerian Immigration Service recruitment exercise in 2014 at the Abuja stadium, which killed many desperate job seekers and maimed hundreds. Morka went on to say that the PDP’s claims simply serve to highlight the party’s long history of mismanagement and incompetence.
