Jonathan paying lip service to free, fair elections —APC

Jonathan paying lip service to free, fair elections —APC

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has asked President Goodluck Jonathan to walk his talk, as far as the organisation of free and fair elections in the country is concerned.

In a statement issued in Lagos, on Monday, by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party urged the President to go beyond mere rhetoric and take concrete actions to ensure that the elections in the country are not marred by the intimidation and harassment of opposition party members and supporters. The party said: “On the same day the President’s latest assurances of a free, fair, credible and transparent elections in 2015 were being reported, agents of the Jonathan-led administration were ransacking the offices of a company hired to carry out an opinion poll for Osun State ahead of the 9 August gubernatorial election.

“If the opposition can no longer freely carry out opinion polls, if the companies hired to carry out such polls are harassed and intimidated by State Security Service (SSS) officials, then how can the President convince anyone that free and fair elections can be held under his watch?

The APC said that already, the foundation was being laid to rig next month’s governorship election in Osun State at source, as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has been frustrating attempts by APC members to obtain their Permanent Voters Cards.

The party added that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has continued to boast that it will again use the military to illegally shut down the state and bully the opposition in Osun State, just like it did in Ekiti State.

It also questioned the statement made by the INEC Chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega, in which he tried to justify the deployment of troops to Ekiti State for the state’s gubernatorial election on the basis that they helped to ensure a violence-free election

The statement added: “Jega should be asked to explain why the troops, who were sent to provide security for the Ekiti election were harassing and intimidating only the opposition? 

Why is it that they were arresting only opposition members? Is that also part of providing security for an election? If soldiers had only provided non-intrusive security for the election, perhaps no one would have complained,”he said.

But where they turned themselves into the enforcement arm of the ruling party, everyone, including INEC, should be concerned.”

The party called on President Jonathan to refrain from deploying the military for election purposes and read the riot act to his cabinet members like Musiliu Obanikoro and Abduljelili Adesina and party officials who specialize in electoral malfeasance.

It said it was only when such actions are taken that elections will start becoming free, fair, credible and transparent to such an extent that the world will notice.

It said: “Saying one thing and doing the opposite, Mr. President, will not translate to credible elections. The world is watching.”

As a starting point, the APC urged the President, if indeed he is committed to free and fair elections, to launch an inquiry into why the offices of the firm carrying out an opinion poll for Osun State were invaded and to tell Nigerians whether the firm would have been harassed if it had been hired by the PDP or its candidate for the August 9 election.