Ekiti Decides: Siege On Ekiti, Invitation To Anarchy – Akume - by Agbo-Paul Augustine, Alo Abiola, And GEORGE OKOJIE, George Agba, Kazeem Akintunde, Michael Oche via Leadership — June 21, 2014 Former Governor of Benue State and serving Senate Minority Leader, Senator George Akume has said that the siege on members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State was capable of throwing the whole democratic process in Nigeria into crisis. Akume in a statement in Abuja said Nigeria was drifting towards a dangerous trend in her politics going by the recent actions of the military in Ekiti ahead of today’s governorship election in the state. The Senate Minority Leader chided President Goodluck Jonathan for allowing soldiers under his command to harass Governor Rotimi Amaechi and prevent him from entering the state to attend the APC Governorship grand rally for Governor John Kayode Fayemi. He said President Jonathan and his PDP Governors that visited Ekiti for a similar rally for PDP candidate Ayo Fayose got all that was needed for a free rally from the incumbent governor in the spirit of democracy and fair play. “We must appreciate that the beauty of any democracy is opposition. The road to tyranny must be very stiffly resisted. Our leaders of today must avoid treading the ways of the likes of Charles Taylor and Slobodan Milosevic of Serbia to the International Criminal Court of Justice after they had left office. “What happened in Ekiti State has brought to the fore a major challenge to democracy and has raised the fundamental question as to whether we are prepared to be ruled by law or by anarchy. “If this can happen to Governors who enjoy some level of immunity, what is the fate of the common man? Where is the assurance that we may not wake up one day only to lose our democracy and country? Akume asked. He appealed to President Goodluck Jonathan to respond to the situation promptly, appropriately and decisively before it got out of control. Akume also said the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) “should equally wake up and respond to this call appropriately and decisively to ensure that they are not intimidated by soldiers or any authority in the conduct of all elections.” He reminded the federal government of the provisions of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) in sections 40, 41 and 42 that guaranteed freedom of movement and freedom from discrimination respectively for all citizens of Nigeria. Akume warned that the actions of the military under the command of President Jonathan was a clear sign of what was to come in 2015. APC Alleges Plans To Place Fayemi Under House Arrest As the people of Ekiti State decide today who governs them for the next four years through the polls, the All Progressives Congress (APC) has raised the alarm over alleged plans by the federal government to place the state governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi under house arrest in its bid to capture the state. The APC Chairman, Chief John Oyegun, who disclosed this at a world press conference held in Lagos, yesterday, said the ruling party, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), in its desperation to hold onto power despite the people’s rejection, had perfected plans to use the military and other security agencies under its control to rig the election. He accused the federal government of witch-hunting the opposition through an egregious abuse of power as well as abuse of national institutions, saying, “we also have it on good authority that a detachment of troops will be sent to the Ekiti State House on Saturday to escort Governor Fayemi to vote and then put him under virtual house arrest thereafter. This is totally unacceptable. “We need to ask: What is the role of the Minister of State for Defence, Musiliu Obanikoro in the Ekiti election? Is he now the chief enforcer for the PDP? It is important to clarify this issue.” The APC chairman who was in the company of Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, Senator Bukola Saraki, Senator Osita Izunaso and Alhaji Lai Mohammed as well as other party leaders, further alleged that, “within the past three days, two aircraft, one a Beech craft 1900 and another Hawker 900, made a total of three trips to the Akure airport ferrying cargoes of money for the Ekiti election. “When one of these cargoes burst open, naira notes with wrappers bearing the name of a popular bank spilled out. The offloading of these cargoes which were then loaded into bullion vans heading for Ado Ekiti, was supervised by the Minister of State for Defence, Mr. Musiliu Obanikoro, as widely reported in the media and yet un-refuted.” Oyegun said placed against the background of a statement credited to a PDP leader that huge amounts of money have been made available by the federal government for the Ekiti election, the party had concluded plans to put the country on edge of precipice. According to him, “last week, over 200 boxes of electoral materials were intercepted by security agents in Ekiti. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) quickly claimed that the boxes contained wasted materials, contradicting the story by the driver of the vehicle carrying the materials. To date, Nigerians have yet to be provided with full and credible information on these suspicious materials. “On June 18, a pro-Fayose and PDP gang was busted in a resort owned by Fayose’s campaign manager thumb printing ballot papers ahead of Saturday’s election. The 22 young men, who were arrested, were also caught preparing INEC form EC8.” He pointed out that under the guise of providing security for the governorship election, Ekiti State has been turned into a war zone with thousands of armed policemen and troops as well as fearsome armoured personnel carriers dotting the entire Ekiti landscape. The visibly enraged Oyegun added that, “never before has an election been held under such armed invasion! The truth is that security for any election does not have to be so invasive, except it is programmed to achieve one thing and one thing only to intimidate voters! “Against this background, my party, the APC, doubts very seriously whether a free, fair, credible and transparent election can be held in Ekiti on Saturday.” Harping on the prevention of APC governors from attending the rally in Ekiti, he said never in the history of the nation’s democracy has a sitting governor been so shabbily treated as was meted out to Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State. “Not even in the days of the abhorrent military rule were such brazen abuses of national institutions committed by the federal government. We call on our international partners to condemn this growing impunity by the ruling party and the government it controls at the centre. Actions have consequences and whoever fails to condemn the acts of impunity being perpetrated by the central government will not have the moral right to condemn the reactions that such actions may elicit,” he emphasised. He added that before the country unravelled under the watch of President Goodluck Jonathan, the president should live up to his pledge made several times over that he would always ensure that elections held under his watch were free and fair and that his ambition was not worth the life of any Nigerian. “The President should call his dogs of war to order before they precipitate a serious crisis in Ekiti,” he warned, saying APC would not accept the outcome of an election that did not comply with electoral principles. INEC confirms 476, 870 voters for election No fewer than 476, 870 eligible voters are expected to take part in the today’s Ekiti State Governorship poll. The number, according to the State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Alhaji Halilu Pai represents 65 percent of the 732,166 registered electorate who had collected their Permanent Voter Cards. Pai who made the disclosure while addressing newsmen at the Independent National Electoral Commission’s headquarters in Ado Ekiti on the commission’s preparation for the election, said 16 INEC commissioners have been deployed to supervise the conduct of the election. Assuring that the results of the election would be announced in Ekiti , Pai said a total of 1,900 local and foreign observers had been accredited to monitor the election. He said: “We have received the sensitive materials on Wednesday from the Central Bank of Nigeria and with party representatives escorted the materials to Local Government Areas. “These materials include the ballot papers and result sheets. They have been distributed to 57 super registration centres that have been established. This is an improvement to ensure that election starts on time. The places are strategically located across Ekiti State.These centres are close to the units to make the commencement of polling faster and to make election materials available to personnel on time”. He said a total of 7,941 National Youth Corps members had been engaged as ad hoc staff for the election. The INEC boss revealed that additional 68 voting points had been created , thereby increasing the number of voting points in the state to 2,803 to make voting easier. “We have also entered into partnership with security agencies to protect our materials. With this high level deployment, I have no doubt that we will have a successful election.” He said. NLC Accuses Presidency Of Using Soldiers To Do Dirty Job The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has condemned in strong terms the denial of access to Ekiti of some All Progressives Congress (APC) governors, notably, Messrs Rotimi Amaechi, Adams Oshiomhole, Musa Kwankwaso and Wammako of Sokoto State. The labour union also advised President Jonathan to “ensure this never happens again” adding that “the cavalier use of our soldiers, especially in furtherance of a dirty job is nihilistic.” The governors were billed to take part in the party’s last mega rally before today’s gubernatorial election in Ekiti State. The NLC in a statement by its president, Comrade Abdulwaheed Ibrahim Omar described the action as tyrannical, adding that it was also a violation of their constitutional right to freely move, associate and express themselves. He said the security officers that barred the governors cited orders from above and wondered who gave these orders and on the basis of which authority the orders were given. He said, “We at the Congress believe the orders are a violation of Section 99 (1) of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended) which states that “For the purpose of this Act, the period of campaigning in public by every political party shall commence 90 days before polling day and end 24 hours prior to that day”. “The hypocrisy of ‘these orders’ is laid bare by the their selective implementation as the Ministers of Defence and Police Affairs, (both of PDP), Messrs Musiliu Obanikoro and Jelili Adesanya were said to have been given passage with fanfare. He stated that this conduct was not only a tyrannical use of power but an assault on our hard-earned democracy and must not be allowed to stand. The statement reads further: “We warn that those who undermine the democratic and constitutional rights of others not only endanger our democracy but make a bad investment as whatever goes around, comes around. President Jonathan should ensure this never happens again. The cavalier use of our soldiers, especially in furtherance of a dirty job is nihilistic. “We also find it necessary to caution against the over-militarization of the state as this has the potential of scaring voters from exercising their civic duty. “For the purpose of emphasis, we are not against providing security for voters but soldiers should not be deployed in a manner that suggests that the nation is at war with a foreign enemy.” Ekiti Locked Up In Compliance With IGP’s Directive Security agents have completely locked up Ekiti State in compliance with the directive of the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Muhammed Abubakar. The IGP had at an election stakeholders’ meeting in Ado Ekiti on Wednesday said that all borders leading to the state would be blocked by security operatives 48 hours before the governorship election. As at noon on Thursday, visitors had hectic time moving into the state as they had to submit themselves to the stop and search operations of the security personnel deployed to all border towns of and entry points to the state. Roads blocks were mounted by both the military and the police at Efon Alaaye- Aramoko Ekiti roads which link the state with Osun State. The situation was the same in Odudu communitiy in Ondo State a major highway connecting the state with Ekiti as well as Ajebamidele area of the state capital, Ado Ekiti where two military and one police check points were mounted. Another border town is Omuo Ekiti, in Ekiti East local government area of the state where stop and search operations of the security agents were ongoing. A visitor to the state who craved anonymity said vehicles were stopped, searched and frisked and some of the vehicles were being detained while others were left off the hook after the search. In Ado Ekiti, the state capital, stern-looking mobile police officers and soldiers were seen at all strategic points. A senior police source told LEADERSHIP Weekend that the situation would be in place until after the election. Fayemi Urges Voters To Be Vigilant Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, has called on voters to be vigilant as they go to the polls today to cast their ballots in the gubernatorial election. He made the call in a broadcast to the people of the state yesterday, urging them to accord security agencies and other relevant authorities full cooperation to make the election a success. Fayemi while noting that the price of liberty is eternal freedom called on all eligible voters to come out and perform their civic duty and also comply with election rules and regulations while doing so, and reminded the citizens of the state that regardless of partisan allegiances, they were sons and daughters of Ekiti where they dwell and which they build together. The governor however, condemned the action of some security agents who harassed some serving governors, whose freedom of movement was infringed upon as they were coming to witness the final rally of his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC). “One must be concerned however as to the ignoble role that some security agents played in the harassment meted out to serving governors of the Federal Republic of Nigeria yesterday when their right to freedom of movement as enshrined in the Constitution of our great country was violated without an infraction of any known law of the land. “As the chief security officer of our state, it is my hope that the unfortunate occurrence of yesterday is not a reflection of collusion between security agencies and partisan interests in preparation for compromising the integrity of Saturday’s election,” Fayemi said. He further stated that, fairness and credibility of the elections are inimitable conditions for the acceptance of the outcome by the honourable people of Ekiti State, pointing out that the election offers Ekiti people the greatest opportunity in their history to deepen democracy and culture of freedom having listened to candidates of political parties since March 23, when the ban on political activities was lifted. He also charged the people to use the election to collectively pursue their honour and act as a role model for electoral integrity and transparency despite the odds. Stay up to date, follow us on Twitter; @LeadershipNGA
Posted on: Sat, 21 Jun 2014 09:47:08 +0000