Saturday 21 June 2014
Tinubu warns against rigging
Former Lagos State governor, Senator Bola Tinubu in a
statement on Friday warned that the Inidependent National
Electoral Commission (INEC) must not botch today’s
election in Ekiti as it did Anambra governorship election
last year.
Tinubu, in a statement, stressed that the election would be
easily won by the All Progressives Congress (APC) if it is
free and fair.
“If allowed to proceed freely and fairly, the election is a
foregone conclusion. Governor Kayode Fayemi has
distinguished himself as a leader dedicated to the welfare
of the people of his state. He has done more good in four
years than his PDP challenger can do in a lifetime of
lifetimes.
“The peace and development of Ekiiti should not be
replaced by a retrogressive mind; in party formation, lack
of character, lack of content and lack of discipline.
“Sadly, Labour Party’s Bamidele has let unbridled
ambition get the better of him. Had he waited to gain the
requisite experience and knowledge, perhaps he could
have become a decent candidate in time. But that would
have been years from now. That time has yet to come. At
the moment, he is like unripe fruit picked much too early
from the tree. We all know what happens when you eat
such a thing. It is bitter to the mouth and hard on the
stomach. The people of Ekiti do not need this.
“Thus, we watch an election that will not be so much about
the candidates as it will be a revelation about those
conducting the election and the puppet masters pulling the
strings of those conducting the election. INEC botched the
election in Anambra. It will likely perform poorly and with
manifest bias in Ekiti. If INEC continues in this troubled
way, history will record it as one of the authors of
democracy’s death knell.
“The security forces are under instruction to obstruct the
process and intimidate those who stand for Fayemi. PDP
has raided the public treasury and is pouring the people’s
money to buy the election for someone the people don’t
want. Adding insult to injury, Minister of State for
Defence has deployed to Ekiti where he is brandishing
every tool at his disposal to thwart the will of the people.
“With the dire security conditions in the nation and the
status of the Chibok girls still at ominous risk, one would
think this senior defence official has more important work
on his desk than to be the chief campaign hack of a
candidate who strikes fear in the hearts of the people of the
state. If only the PDP and its errant minister of state
devoted as much energy and drive to our security
challenges as they do to stealing elections, this nation
would both be safer and more democratic. Instead, we sink
into deeper insecurity and despotism.
“The election in Ekiti is important not only to the fate of
that state but of the entire nation. No doubt, the PDP gang
will stop at nothing to abridge the right of the people so
that their brutish loser may win. This gives rise to the
questions of the day. Will INEC bend as always or will it
finally stand and do its duty as is proper? Will the people
decide that enough is enough and not only vote but defend
their vote in all proper and right ways? Will we see the
advance of democracy or its retreat in the face of mounting
suppression?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment