The All Progressives Congress, APC, has been accused of mounting pressure on market women and traders across Southwest to join its rank.
The African Democratic Congress, ADC, levelled this charge at the ruling party on Saturday during the inauguration of the opposition party’s Executive Committee in the region.
The statement was made by the party’s chairman in the area, Rahman Owokoniran in his acceptance speech in which he said APC was using intimidation, coercion and threat to woo market women and traders to the party’s fold.
“Market women and men are reportedly being pressured to register with the ruling party under duress, including threats of raiding their markets and locking their shops indiscriminately, thereby preventing them from selling their goods and earning a living,” Owokoniran claimed.
He alleged that the ruling party had weaponised palliatives distribution, saying the latter is used to control the poor and working class, rather than a genuine intervention to cushion economic hardship.
“Such practices were designed to manipulate loyalty and suppress dissent among vulnerable populations,” the ADC chieftain declared.
