The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Comrade Adams Oshiomhole said on Wednesday that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was working for the main opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) ahead of the 2019 general election.
Oshiomhole however, added that the governing party will not decent to the level of bringing down state institutions because the APC believes that state institutions should be allowed to perform their functions.
Responding to questions about alleged collusion between the Electoral Management Body and President Muhammadu Buhari, Oshiomhole alleged that at the moment, two Resident Electoral Commissioners in the South-South have been going about campaigning with the PDP.
Oshiomhole who asked Nigerians not to return the PDP to power said the pledge by the PDP candidate to float the naira was a receipt to economic woes, adding that Atiku has always been part of wrath facing the nation.
He also dismissed PDP allegations that the APC was responsible for burning some INEC offices that have recently been engulfed in flame, stressing that he could easily allude to the fact that the PDP burnt the INEC offices because they are afraid of losing elections in those places.
He said “If anything, this INEC has been very unfair to the APC. But we just discovered that we have a responsibility. The fact that we are a governing party imposes on us a certain level of code that you can’t be seen to rubbish every institution because if we rubbish everything, it would mean that we don’t want election. INEC believe everything the PDP says.
“As we speak, there are two Resident Electoral Commissioners who are virtually campaigning line by line with the PDP in the south South. INEC, without giving us any explanation and without any concrete evidence went ahead to say we can’t field candidates in Zamfara, thereby seeking to award, without any context and nullify democracy in Zamfara state.
“Is that the way your friends behave if they are your friends. INEC is working more for the PDP, based on evidence I can show. How can they explain that a court of competent jurisdiction gave orders in Zamfara to say this candidate is eligible to contest election and another high court in Abuja also gave a verdict saying APC did not conclude its primaries but did not give order to INEC.
“There is no order issued by the Federal High Court in Abuja. The court of Appeal made a pronouncement on this matter today that there was no order from the court in Abuja, but that there was a concrate order from a Zamfara High Court which upheld the primaries that was conducted in Zamfara.
“The INEC Chairman has said that when there are two court orders, they will adopt the last judgement. In Zamfara state, the Abuja judgement came first and the Zamfara judgment came last even though it is the same say.
“More as INEC has said they will always obey the last judgement when it came to the Zamfara issue, they changed the goal post. As media, you have to be careful. When you say people alleged there were meetings and can’t even cite any, it is a disservice. We have been at the receiving end of abuse.
“There is a candidate in Kano whose nomination we forwarded to INEC, but they changed the nomination and as we speak, we are in court over that. We showed our evidence.
“Do you remember the confession of the former Deputy Senate President who, on national television and on social media where anything is possible, narrated how President Obasanjo used him and Atiku to rig election, how they wrote results, how they collude with INEC. This same Atiku was in office when Mantu was doing those things.
“So, if PDP functionaries have enumerated how they use to rig election, how can in all fairness point to President Muhammadu Buhari who has been victim of election rigging three times such that in our legal history it is part precedent that the Supreme Court was persuaded to accept that election where ballot papers had no serial number was OK and not a major infraction.”
On the allegation by the PDP that the party was responsible for the fire incidences in some INEC offices, Oshiomhole said “does it make sense for any responsible Nigerian, when there is fire incidence either in a private property or a public property, to jump into conclusion from the comfort of your room say that the ruling party must have done it.
“There is an Igbo proverb that when you see a mad man running naked and he pulled your clothes, you don’t join him in running naked. The PDP choose to run naked and make allegations over everything. They are free to do that. We are more busy and will not join issues.
“This election is for us and no election can be this easy for us. All we need is one man one vote and we will defeat the PDP. There will be no violence, no fighting. Just the votes which will be counted and we will win.”
He likened Atiku’s plans to grant amnesty to looters who refund part of their loot to a situation of not putting in place any punitive measure to deter others from towing the same part.
He said President Buhari was not a sit tight leader, but only exercising his constitutional right to seek a second term in office, saying the President has demonstrated his love for Nigeria with the love of infrastructures he has put in place across the country.
He told foreign observers that while their presence was appreciated, western leaders should not come and dictate to Nigeria how to carry out their activities, saying “we are not a colony of any western nation”.
Nigeria, he said is much more than all those seeking to be the President, appealing for a violence-free election which he said will be won by his party without having to resort to any form of rigging or intimidation. – The Nation.
