APC Warns PDP Against Rigging 2015 elections
The All Progressives Congress has berated the presidency for its crude reaction to the opposition, also warning that if the 2015 elections are compromised, the results will be shunned and the party will form a parallel government.
The party released a statement in Lagos on Friday through its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, saying:
”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.
”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 advised the presidency to desist from issuing threats and make efforts to ensure that the 2015 elections are free, fair and credible and observed by Nigerians and the international community.
”PDP and the governments it sired, 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.
”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.”
