The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Adamu Mu’azu, on Monday accused some opposition leaders of being behind the current petrol scarcity in the country.

Mu’azu, in a series of tweets on his official Twitter page, alleged that the opposition leaders and some vested interests were hoarding petrol.

He, however, did not mention the names of the opposition leaders but he claimed that the   scarcity was engineered to damage the image of President Goodluck Jonathan ahead of the March 28 elections.

The PDP national chairman said, “Concerned Nigerians have drawn our attention to the fact that some opposition leaders and vested interests are behind hoarding of fuel.

“Concerned Nigerians also drew our attention to plans by those who control the South-West disco to sabotage electricity in the zone.

“We assure Nigerians, they will fail. All their plans to tarnish the image of the government will fail like all other previous attempts. We want to assure concerned Nigerians, especially all of you here on social media that we will reverse this trend soonest.”

Mu’azu, however, said in later tweets that he never blamed the APC for the fuel scarcity but was sharing the concern of many Nigerians who had raised the alarm.

He said his ICT team who tweeted were only talking about the allegations raised by Nigerians.

He flayed the responses of APC supporters to the earlier tweets, saying, “Your party’s presidential candidate has been away for about 14 days now you are not asking questions but you can ask me questions.”

But the National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Lai Mohammed, described the allegation as laughable.

Mohammed, in a telephone interview with one of our correspondents, added that the allegation had further shown that the PDP was confused and terrified of imminent defeat at the polls.

He said, “If there is any further proof that someone is confused, I think this statement by Mu’azu is one of it. Who are the people bringing in refined oil products? Are they the opposition members? What is the business of the opposition with petrol scarcity or hoarding? Who are the people behind the oil subsidy scam? Are they opposition members?

“The PDP is completely clueless and frustrated. I will advise the PDP to just simply not bother to contest the elections. Our democracy cannot grow under their leadership. Nigerians now know that they cannot even clean their own mess.

“We should be the one making the allegations. We are sure that they are ready to attribute any little problem to the opposition. We are not ready to join issues with the PDP because we have better plans to fix Nigeria. The allegation is absurd.”

Mohammed later in an email statement said, “It is totally unconscionable, and indeed an admission of failure for a sitting government and a ruling party to blame the opposition for their failings.

“These guys have simply abdicated their responsibility to the people. They can as well throw in the towel and head for home.

“The questions to ask are: who runs the NNPC? Who pays subsidy to fuel marketers? Who has used federal resources to bribe individuals and groups to such a level that there is no money to run the government, let alone paying subsidies?

“The moment a ruling party starts transferring its responsibilities to the opposition, it is clear that the market is over.”

Like Muázu, the PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation   attributed the scarcity to the APC, which it said, had infiltrated the ranks of the fuel marketers.

It said in a statement on Monday by   its Director of Media and Publicity,   Femi Fani-Kayode, that the fuel marketers had taken what it described as a sub-contract from the opposition to frustrate supplies   to filling stations as part of a grand plan to create tension in the polity.

The statement read in part, “We know who the fuel marketers are. We know the relationship that exists between one of the biggest fuel marketers and a national leader of the APC.

“These unconscionable opposition elements infiltrated the ranks of the fuel marketers, whom they have contracted, in a calculated attempt to frustrate the good efforts of government.

“Why have they taken this time when all hands are on deck for the March 28 elections to cause this artificial fuel scarcity? The situation is so bad that they are not importing the product.

“They are even threatening tank farmers not to release any fuel in their depot in order to sustain the shortage. We are aware that the tank farmers have reported the threat to the Police and other security agencies.

“The PDPPCO wishes to use this medium to alert the nation on the lingering plot by the opposition elements, who have been sponsoring their agents of destruction in the power sector to vandalise critical infrastructure in order to reduce the megawatts of electricity that is being generated and reverse the gains that government is making in the sector.”

Earlier on Monday, The PUNCH learnt that the APC had asked its lawyers   to prepare to challenge any action by the Jonathan-led PDP government to cripple its presidential campaign by freezing the accounts of its leading members.

A top member of the party said apart from asking the lawyers to get prepared for a legal battle, the party’s leadership had increased the tempo of its person-to-person contact in a bid to shore up its fundraising efforts.

Apart from the online fundraising platform and the sale of recharge cards, the leaders of the party are   tinkering with the idea of   a fundraising dinner.

Our source said, “We are not leaving anything to chance and because we believe in the rule of law, we will mount a vigorous legal action to challenge any act that is clearly a violation of the constitutional rights and freedoms of our leaders as citizens of Nigeria.

“We know the ruling party is desperate and will stop at nothing to cling to power but it has met more than its match.

“We knew long before now that this time will come. You will recall that the PDP-led administration bluntly refused to repay the APC states for federal projects undertaken even the ecological funds that is meant for states from the Federation Account is being selectively disbursed. The clampdown on finances of the APC states began long before now.

The Director Media, Publicity and Information Technology, Buhari Support Organisation,   Chidia Maduekwe, also said, “We are not surprised at the desperation of the PDP because it is in line with its character to try to stifle the opposition.

“What they are trying to do is not new. If you go through history, you will find sad examples of such desperation.

“Look at Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe, Lauren Gbagbo of Ivory Coast, even in Canada in the 1940s, one prime minister tried to change the electoral laws and manipulate the system to hang on but he failed.

“These are things we have seen in Africa. Nigeria has grown and no amount of intimidation or blackmail will succeed.

“The only option left for this administration is to ensure the conduct of a free, fair and credible election to usher in a new era for Nigeria to take its place in the scheme of things not only in Africa but in the comity of nations the world over.”

When contacted, the Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Abdullahi Jalo, said it was normal for the opposition to look for whom to blame for its failures.

He said, “Is it not laughable that the opposition is quick to blame the PDP for failing to meet the expectations of their people?

“Many of them made promises they could not keep and they misplaced their priority now they are blaming the PDP. They should look inwards for the source of their problems.”