Saturday 21 June 2014
APC warns on Ekiti election: There ’ll be war
All Progressives Congress (APC) on Friday warned that the
road being charted by the Federal Government in handling
Ekiti State governorship poll, holding this Saturday, among
others, can lead to a repeat of Operation wetie in the
Western Region should the people of Ekiti be denied the
opportunity to freely elect the candidate of their choice.
Reacting to the charge by the opposition party, the Special
Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr.
Reuben Abati, told State House correspondents in Abuja
on Friday that President Goodluck Jonathan had
consistently proved to be committed to democracy, rule of
law and free and fair elections.
The opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) also
countered that the APC and its leader, Senator Bola
Tinubu, were merely jittery over the likelihood of their
losing what it called their investments in Ekiti State.
Abati advised the APC to search themselves rather than
“crying wolf where there is none”
“It is absolutely wrong to accuse this administration of
repression. If anything, this administration has been most
tolerant of opposition and most respectful of everybody’s
right of association. This accusation cannot stand at all.
“In Ekiti election and any other election at all, the
government is committed to one man, one vote; one
woman, one vote; and one youth, one vote which is
President Jonathan’s concept,” Abati said.
The presidential spokesman noted that the security
agencies have a duty to stop anyone from entering Ekiti if
they believe such a person could compromise the election.
“At the same time, the security agencies have an obligation
to ensure that people who, with their choices, would rather
compromise the integrity of the process are not allowed to
do so,” he added.
National Chairman of APC, John Odigie-Oyegun, had at a
press conference in Lagos which was attended by
Governor Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers), former Governor
Bukola Saraki, Senator Osita Izunaso (national organising
secretary), Senator Olorunnimbe Mamora, Chief (Mrs.)
Kemi Nelson (APC women leader), Alhaji Lai Mohammed
(the party’s spokesperson), among others, threatened war
if the elections were rigged.
Chief Odigie-Oyegun, who spoke against the backdrop of
alleged “militarisation of Ekiti State ahead of today’s
governorship poll, harassment, intimidation and torture
meted to the APC governors and party chieftains, who were
not allowed to partake in the final rally held for Governor
Kayode Fayemi in Ado-Ekiti as their planes were
grounded, reminded President Goodluck Jonathan of the
ugly episode of 1965 operation wetie in the old Western
Region.
“Actions have consequences, and whoever fails to
condemn the acts of impunity being perpetrated by the
central government will not have the moral right to
condemn the reactions that such actions may elicit,”
Odigie-Oyegun warned, even as he further warned that the
road being charted by the Federal Government “would
make every Nigerian a refugee if care is not taken.
“We have done our opinion survey, we would have
landslide victory in Ekiti. If PDP is confident of winning,
why did they have to militarise Ekiti, the people would
defend their votes. The road the Federal Government is
charting will make all of us refugees, it is road to anarchy.
We cannot survive another four years with the way things
are going,” he warned.
Chief Odigie-Oyegun, in his statement entitled:
“Democracy in danger as Nigeria comes under creeping
fascism?” reminded the president of the promise made to
Nigerians several times of ensuring a free and fair poll as
his 2015 presidential ambition was not worth the blood of
any Nigerian, insisting that the APC would not accept the
outcome of a rigged election in Ekiti on Saturday.
“We urge President Goodluck Jonathan to live up to his
pledge, made several times over, that he would always
ensure that elections held under his watch are free and fair,
and that his ambition is not worth the life of any Nigerian.
The President should call his dogs of war to order before
the precipitate a serious crisis in Ekiti.
“We remind the president not to allow Nigeria to unravel
under his watch, through acts of omission or commission.
We urge him to take a lesson from history, and to realise
that the crisis of 1965, 1983 and 1993 all started from the
South-west over elections that were either manipulated or
annulled. Our country is still reeling from the effects of
those crises and we cannot afford to plunge the nation into
another crisis,” he warned.
Oyegun frowned at what he described as over
concentration of security forces in Ekiti and barring of
APC governors and chieftains from entering the state to
partake in the final rally of Governor Fayemi as suggestive
of planned rigging of the poll ahead of real voting exercise
taking place today.
According to him, the Federal Government has made Ekiti
a war zone, whereas it should not be so, reminding that
what was taking place in the state was election and war.
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