The Oyo state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party has described the All Progressives Congress’ reaction to Governor Seyi Makinde’s “Operation Wetie” comment during the opposition political parties’ summit in Ibadan on Saturday as hypocritical.
A statement on Sunday by the party’s publicity secretary, Ogunsina Michael, said the attempt by the APC to vilify Mr Makinde was a ploy to “reclassify historical references as incitement”, “misrepresent opposition figures”, and a “growing pattern of intolerance toward dissenting voices”.
Mr Ogunsina said, “The Oyo State Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has taken due notice of the latest press statement issued by the National Secretariat of the All Progressives Congress (APC), and finds it not only disingenuous but a calculated exercise in political amnesia, selective morality, and intellectual dishonesty.
“Governor Makinde did not call for violence. He did what responsible statesmen do: he invoked history as a warning, not a weapon. Only those uncomfortable with democratic accountability would deliberately distort such context for political convenience.”
The party spokesman noted that Mr Tinubu and then-President Muhammadu Buhari, in time past, built their opposition identities on “charged, confrontational and highly mobilising rhetoric”.
Mr Ogunsina said, “The then opposition leader, now president, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, at the height of national protests and political tension, consistently framed his political messaging around resistance to perceived state failure, famously declaring that political power ‘must be fought for’ and mobilised with absolute resolve.”
“Former President Muhammadu Buhari, during his years in opposition, repeatedly issued hardline warnings about electoral outcomes and national consequences, language that shaped intense political mobilisation and public agitation at the time,” he added.
The spokesman warned the APC against dragging Mr Makinde into what he described as “manufactured controversy”, stressing that democracy should be “a marketplace of ideas”.
“If the APC now insists that historical references constitute incitement, then it must first subject its own political history to the same standard it seeks to impose on others. Anything less is selective justice and democratic bad faith,” Mr Ogunsina said.
“Governor Seyi Makinde remains resolute, focused, and firmly committed to democratic principles, responsible governance, and political maturity. No amount of coordinated propaganda, intimidation, or historical distortion will alter that fact,” he stated.
Earlier, the APC’s national publicity secretary, Felix Morka, accused Mr Makinde of inciting violence after the governor’s “Operation Wetie” comment during his welcome address at the opposition summit held on Saturday.
The phrase “Operation Wetie” referred to a slogan used to describe violence perpetrated against political opponents and the burning of property during Nigeria’s first republic.
“Those that are carrying on as if there’s no tomorrow…should remember that ‘Operation Wetie’ started from here. This is the same Wild Wild West,” Mr Makinde stated.
