The North West Chapter of the All Progressives Congress has asked members of the Peoples Democratic Party in Zamfara State to prove its claim that the Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, gave palliatives to bandits.
Musa Mada, Zonal Publicity Secretary of the APC, made the demand when he addressed newsmen in Kaduna on Sunday.
Mada said that the party welcomed positive criticisms from the opposition, but such criticisms should not violate the provisions of the freedom of speech.
He accused the PDP Government in Zamfara State of persistent slandering of Matawalle, the immediate past governor of the state.
He stated that the grievous allegation against Matawalle can never be overlooked.
He said the sponsors of the fake news against the Minister must provide proof of the alleged foodstuffs distribution.
In the alternative, they must tender an apology to the Minister on the pages of at least two national dailies within two weeks from Sunday.
Mada said: “If no action is taken from the side of the sponsors of this fake news on expiration of the ultimatum on 14th April, 2024, a legal action will be instituted against them.
“It has come to our notice that some unscrupulous elements in this geopolitical zone, particularly Zamfara, made it their daily habit of using instruments of mainstream and the new media in tarnishing the image of our party leaders.
“Similarly, it is well known fact that the PDP opposition government in Zamfara made name for itself in slandering Matawalle
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“As a party, we concede that slandering any of our members with ulterior motives is as good as attacking the structural foundation of our great party, which is intolerable, let alone defaming the character and questioning the integrity of our leaders who earned their reputation through selfless service to the greater good of the entire nation.”
According to Mada, APC welcomes positive criticism from the opposition that do not violate the provisions of freedom of speech, adding: “We will not condone any form of vituperation that oversteps boundaries of the provisions of the laws of the land.”
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