Newly elected National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, has sent a warning to rival Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the presidency and all other Nigerians related to the governorship election that would hold in Ekiti State on Saturday that APC would not fold its arms and allow rigging to take place during that election.
Police in the State have reportedly arrested 11 people who were allegedly thumb-printing ballot papers for the PDP governorship candidate, Ayo Fayose, in a hide-out belonging to the chairman of the Fayose Campaign Organisation.
In his first speech titled Code Red In Ekiti, read out after his inauguration as national chairman of the APC on Wednesday, Oyegun, a former governor of Edo state, said his first message is directed at President Goodluck Jonathan regarding a series of occurrences that point to the fact that the PDP is bent on rigging the elections and writing the results of the Saturday elections in Ekiti even before the polls open.
“If this dangerous trend is not arrested, the consequences will be dire for democracy and our country,” Oyegun said.
“The All Progressives Congress, APC will not accept the outcome of the election in Ekiti unless the authorities provide convincing explanations to the series of questionable developments in recent times.
“Less than 72 hours to the governorship elections in Ekiti, there are ominous signs that the PDP led government is bent on influencing the outcome of the elections come Saturday June 21st. This series of developments and events are undeniable pointers to a desperate plot to rig the elections at all cost.”
He added that in the last few days, many developments have occurred that have exposed the covert and criminal effort to subvert the rights of the citizens of Ekiti and the country’s electoral law.
“Barely two Sundays ago, our supporters during a peaceful procession in Ekiti were tear-gassed and in fact one was killed. The elected governor of the State Dr. Fayemi was also tear-gassed and barely escaped being shot,” he continued.
“Yet, instead of quickly prosecuting the police officers involved in this crisis, the Police authorities simply went ahead in the most bizarre turn of events and charged a Commissioner and eleven others from Ekiti State with acts of terrorism a few days to the election. Meanwhile, the police that shot the APC member walks the street free.”
He also mentioned that security agents intercepted a truck with over 200 boxes of electoral materials last week, saying INEC quickly claimed it was wasted materials, whereas the story of the driver contradicted that of INEC.
“To date, Nigerians are yet to be provided with full information about the culprits behind these suspicious materials,” he said.
“On Tuesday 17th June 2014 two loaded aircraft landed at the Akure airport with undisclosed content. The presence of the Minister of State, Defence, Musliu Obanikoro who was on ground to ensure the safe delivery of the cargoes suggests official collusion and knowledge. The contents were immediately loaded into a bullion van under the watchful eyes of the Minister of State, Defence, Obanikoro.”
Oyegun also alleged that on Wednesday, a Pro-Fayose and PDP gang was busted in a resort owned by Fayose’s campaign manager thumb printing ballot papers ahead of the Saturday elections. The 22 young men who were arrested were also caught preparing INEC form EC8.
He sid the examples show clear intent and deliberate ploy to subvert the elections, revealing that APC no longer has faith in the often touted promises and commitment of the current administration to a free and fear election in Ekiti.
“Having earlier declared the Ekiti election as ‘war’, the PDP is now living true to that promise with the Ministers of State, Defence and Police Affairs leading the troops,” Oyegun said.
He questioned the business Obanikoro supervising the offloading of mysterious cargo in Akure while the North East is still being ravaged by Boko Haram and over 200 girls remain missing and unaccounted for.
“We warn Mr. President, that election rigging in a particular state of the country in the past has always had serious consequences for the government in power and the country as a whole, as it happened in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Republics,” Oyegun said.
“The APC will not fold its arms and watch the electoral process being brazenly subverted. Our party, will not accept any result from Ekiti that does not flow from a transparent election. We are not asking for any favours. We only demand a free and fair election.”
He appealed to the international community not to ignore “ominous signs” manifesting in the state just before the elections. Oyegun maintained that the international community need no further pointers to know that some people are desperate to win the election, no matter the cost.
“The greatest danger is that we do not know how many other places the thumb-printing of ballot papers are taking place in and around Ekiti,” he said.
Oyegun commended the security agencies for their alertness in discovering and arresting the thumb-printing hoodlums, urging them to always be professional and thorough.
