Blame APC if Niger East re-run election goes violent- Gov’s Aide

Niger State Government on Tuesday said the All Progressives Congress, APC, should be held responsible should the East senatorial bye-election turns violent.

Responding to the position of the APC on the last Saturday bye-election which was declared inconclusive by INEC, Chief Press Secretary to Niger State Governor, Israel Ebije, alleged that the opposition is already preparing fertile grounds for violence.
Ebije, in a statement made available to the Eagle online in Minna, said “the opposition is already preparing fertile grounds for violence in the next general election by setting negative agenda on the mind of youths gullible at their paid service to throw dent at the existing peaceful coexistence in the state. They must take responsibility for any violence in next Saturday re-run.
“It is irresponsible for the APC to cast negative values at the conduct of the PDP or INEC in the just concluded by-election. They are only interested in inventing cheap lies to seek undeserved sympathy from the people. They have only exposed themselves as a people only interested in peddling lies to cover their electoral misfortunes. It is however sad that they are stoking the flame of violence.
“It is indeed very unfortunate that a political party will constitute themselves as trouble seeking political destitute, avowed democratic antagonists, interested only in politics of brigands, name-calling, and parochial sentimentality to seek cheap popularity and cause maximum social disorder.”
It would be recalled the spokesman of the Niger opposition party in a statement Monday claimed election irregularities by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Niger Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as reason for their abysmal performance at the last Saturday senatorial by-election.
Ebije insisted that Niger APC is whimpering now only because their unleashed thugs were not able to accomplish the mission they set out to do in the first place.
He added that politics has gone beyond cheap blackmail and sympathy seeking propaganda saying that electorates know what they want.
Governor Babangida Aliyu’s spokesman insisted that it is indeed the PDP that should be feeling bad about the conduct of last Saturday election, intimating that most of the areas cancelled were on account of irregularities by hirelings to disrupt the process especially in places of strength of the ruling party.
Further, he urged the opposition party to shun inflammatory statements and embrace peace. “They must learn to be good losers or else they will continue to lose political fortunes worse than they are presently suffering,” he added.