The All Progressives Congress has decried what it described as the over-militarization of Ekiti State ahead of Saturday’s election, saying it poses danger to the survival of democracy as well as Nigeria as a nation.
Addressing a world press conference in Lagos on Friday, the APC National Chairman, Chief John Odigwe Oyegun, lamented that Ekiti State has been turned into a war zone where constitutional rights of the people have been suspended, warning against such arbitrariness.
He recalled the series of victimization top officials of the party including sitting State governors have suffered in the hands of security operatives in the last 48 hours all because of the Ekiti State election.
Oyegun therefore, called on well meaning Nigerians and the international community to speak up against the witch-hunting of the opposition and brazen display of federal might, warning against the repeat of the unpleasant events of 1965, 1983 and 1993 in the west.
The APC also sought to know the role the Minister of State for Defence, Musiliu Obanikoro, is playing in the Ekiti election, and wondering if he is now the “chief enforcer for the PDP”.
The party leadership said having reviewed the ongoing events in Ekiti ahead of the governorship election; it has resolved to alert all Nigerians to the antics of the federal government in witch-hunting the opposition through an egregious abuse of power as well as abuse of national institutions.
“We urge all the good people of our dear nation to speak out against these unprecedented acts of desperation and impunity. Never in the history of our democracy has a sitting Governor been so shabbily treated as was meted out to Gov. Amaechi on Thursday. Not even in the days of the abhorrent military rule were such brazen abuse of national institutions committed by the federal government.
“We call on our international partners to condemn this growing impunity by the ruling party and the government it controls at the centre. 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.
“We state clearly that our party will not accept the outcome of any election in Ekiti State that does not comply with the best practices. The people of Ekiti must be allowed to vote freely and without molestation for the candidates of their choice on Saturday, and the votes must not only be counted, but they must count.
“Also, we want to call the attention of Nigerians to the fact that under the Electoral Act, troops are not supposed to be deployed to polling stations. Also, police personnel deployed to polling booths are not expected to carry arms. All these stipulations of the Electoral Act must be strictly adhered to on Saturday.
“We also have it on good authority that a detachment of troops will be sent to the Ekiti State House on Saturday to escort Gov. Fayemi to vote and then put him under virtual house arrest thereafter. This is totally unacceptable.
“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 their 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 realize 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.
“Finally, we urge the good people of Ekiti to go out and vote massively for the candidates of their choice on Saturday. They should not allow the overwhelming presence of security agents to intimidate them, if that is what their deployment was programmed meant to achieve. They must defend their votes to the hilt and reject any attempt by a band of desperadoes to choose their leaders for them. After all, ultimate power flows from the people.”
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