Tension is mounting in parts of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, after a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) openly threatened residents with violence and possible expulsion if they vote for opposition parties in the forthcoming Area Council elections scheduled for Saturday.
In a video obtained by SaharaReporters, the APC member was seen addressing a crowd in Mabushi, a district within the Abuja Municipal Area Council, warning supporters of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the African Democratic Congress (ADC) to either defect to the ruling party or prepare to leave the community after casting their votes.
Speaking in Hausa while campaigning, the APC member alleged that the party had already mobilised loyalists to monitor and identify opposition supporters in the area.
According to him, “The people of Mabushi — there are some minorities in this town. They are around here talking about ADC or SDP.
“We will wear one pair of trousers with them,” he said, using a Hausa idiom suggesting that the party would confront and deal with them firmly.
“We have already put a searchlight on them. Wherever a person is, if we ask you for a favor — to come and join us in the fight — and you say you will not, after we finish our own fight we will fight you in this town. Whoever you are. We will not tolerate it.”
The speaker further accused certain residents, whom he described as “minorities,” of promoting opposition candidates and allegedly undermining local political arrangements.
“There are minorities who are saying ADC. By God, we understand ourselves very well and we know the truth. It is the Local Government that works with the traditional rulers and the common people. Today they say we should bring the chairman from another tribe. They say bring something for the chairman’s wife. Even the councillor is like that,” he said.
In a more direct and warning, the APC campaigner declared that anyone who votes for the ADC or SDP would face consequences from young men ready to act.
“Please, those who are here in this town sympathise with us; they want to work together with us. But anyone who betrays us on election day — we have young men who are ready to deal with such a person. If you go and vote for ADC, you will not sleep in this town,” he stated.
“So the message I am giving to everyone is this: if you are an ADC or SDP supporter, prepare yourself. When you vote, pack your belongings and find your way out. Please, we are warning you!”
