APC Insists Governor Amaechi’s Statement Stands

Posted by African Examiner Featured, Latest Headlines, Politics Friday, November 21st, 2014

The Nigerian opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) has slammed the Presidency on “agitated response” that it will not recognize the outcome of rigged elections and will go ahead to form a parallel government, in 2015.

Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi

In a statement issued in Lagos Friday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, APC said what the Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi said at the APC’s Salvation Rally, which has rankled the presidency into a state of delirium, was simply to reiterate the stand ealier taken by the party before the August 9, 2014 Osun State Governorship election.

”Those who are fretting about this statement are those who are planning to rig the elections and they should be warned that Nigerians will no longer accept the outcome of any fraudulent polls. Those who incite the people are those who steal their mandate.

”What we made is a conditional statement. If A happens, then B will follow. That means if elections are not rigged, there will be no problem. It is therefore laughable that anyone will call that statement treasonable,” stressed the opposition.

The party held that there was no higher treason than the subversion of the people’s will.

APC said it was a common knowledge that anywhere in the world where elections have been rigged, the consequences have been dire and Nigeria would not be an exception.

”Let us remind the presidency, in case it has forgotten, that election fraud triggered a civil war in Algeria in the early 1990s, led to the killing of over 1,000 people in post-election riots in Kenya in 2007/2008 and fired a near revolution in Iran in 2009/2010.

“Electoral frauds also corrupt democracy and breed dictatorship, and risks making the people to lose confidence in democracy. Why then would any government react violently if warned against election rigging?” the party queried.

It said that instead of issuing threats and engaging in name calling, the presidency should simply brace up to ensure that the forthcoming elections were not only free, fair and credible, but were seen to be so by Nigerians and the international community.

The leading opposition stated it was necessary to constantly warn the ruling PDP and the Federal Government not to tamper with the 2015 polls because of their penchant for electoral desperation, which manifests in the intimidation of the opposition and the militarization of election, disposition to anarchy and propensity for impunity.

The party added that already, the process leading to the 2015 polls were flawed, with moves to disenfranchise millions of Nigerians by making it impossible for them to either register or get their Permanent Voters Cards (PVC) and the plot to depopulate the strongholds of the opposition.

”PDP and the governments, especially at the centre, are lawless and anarchic. That’s why they can unleash the police against federal legislators in an attempt to force a removal of the Speaker of the House of Representatives. That’s why a state under the control of the PDP will use seven lawmakers to remove the Speaker in a 26-member House of Assembly.

”Because it is said that eternal vigilance is the price of freedom, we will constantly warn the PDP and the Federal Government not to tamper with the 2015 elections. We will constantly chide them for trying to institutionalize impunity. We cannot and will not be intimidated by an uptight presidency,” APC contended.

”The PDP and the Jonathan Administration are the masters of impunity, and they will not hesitate to exploit any sign of docility in the face of their evil intentions on the part of the opposition. The lessons are there: Had the members of the House of Representatives been docile on Thursday when remote-controlled security agents invaded their premises and barred them from entering, Tambuwal would have ceased to be the Speaker by now.

”For us, the gloves are off. We will no longer engage in any nicety as long as some people are bent on thwarting the will of the people through electoral fraud. All we are demanding is a free, fair and credible election. All we are saying is that no one should incite the people by stealing their mandate. How these demands can be construed to mean treason is as baffling as the do-or-die disposition of the ruling PDP to elections,” the party challenged.