The ADC-PCC made the allegation while dismissing as hypocritical and diversionary a statement by the APC Presidential Campaign Council condemning attacks on opposition parties during political gatherings.
In a statement signed by its Director of Media and Publicity, Kola Ologbondiyan, the council challenged the ruling party to take responsibility for the escalating political violence and call its members to order.
It insisted that neither the APC nor the administration of President Bola Tinubu could escape responsibility for what it described as a growing climate of political violence threatening Nigeria’s democracy.
According to the council, the APC, rather than the opposition, is promoting and encouraging violence across the country.
“The APC cannot pretend to be a victim of the very violence it has nurtured, funded and unleashed on Nigerians since it came to power.
“From Edo to Cross River, from Gombe to Lagos, the pattern is the same: APC thugs disrupt opposition gatherings, attack innocent supporters, destroy campaign materials and then rush to the press to shed crocodile tears.”
The campaign council also accused APC governors of institutionalising political violence by denying opposition parties access to rally venues, demolishing their offices, orchestrating physical attacks and destroying their members’ vehicles.
It further alleged that opposition campaigns were being deliberately suffocated through restrictions on party posters, candidates’ billboards and open political activities, including the imposition of prohibitive and unattainable fees.
The council specifically blamed the disruption of Thursday’s scheduled Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) town hall meeting in Lagos on what it called the APC’s established tactics of intimidation and political sabotage.
“The disruption of Thursday’s scheduled town hall meeting of the Nigeria Democratic Congress in Lagos bears the unmistakable fingerprints of the APC.
“It is the same old script: orchestrate violence, intimidate the opposition, disrupt their activities and then issue public condemnations to cover up.”
The ADC-PCC said while opposition parties were engaging Nigerians on pressing national challenges, including hunger, insecurity, unemployment, corruption and what it described as the collapse of governance under Tinubu, the APC had allegedly resorted to violence because it had little to offer voters.
Questioning the ruling party’s sudden expression of concern over attacks on opposition gatherings, the council recalled alleged assaults on ADC members and supporters, including the destruction of party billboards, disruption of rallies and physical attacks.
“Where was the APC’s condemnation when our billboards were destroyed, our rallies disrupted and our members brutalised?
“Their sudden concern is not about peace; it is about diverting attention from their own atrocities.”
The council urged President Tinubu to heed the counsel of elder statesman, Professor Jerry Gana, and demonstrate the leadership required to guarantee peaceful political activities, tolerance and democratic freedom.
It also disclosed that the ADC was compiling a comprehensive record of alleged attacks against its members, adding that the reports would eventually be submitted to relevant international judicial and human rights institutions.
Dismissing the APC’s condemnation as hollow and self-serving, the ADC urged Nigerians not to be deceived by what it described as the ruling party’s attempt to distance itself from the prevailing climate of political violence.
The council, however, reaffirmed its commitment to peaceful and issue-based campaigns, insisting that alleged intimidation and APC-sponsored violence would not derail its mobilisation ahead of the 2027 general elections.
“The ADC remains committed to a peaceful, issue-based campaign. We will not be intimidated. We will not be silenced.
“No amount of APC-sponsored violence will stop Nigerians from voting for competence, integrity and a new beginning in 2027.”
