Elections: Gov el-Rufai under fire over ‘body bags’ comment

…Stakeholders kick as PDP threatens pull out from peace accord if…

…No, I was only defending Nigeria’s sovereignty, el-Rufai insists

Patrick Okohue, Lagos and Tunde Opalana, Abuja

Kaduna State governor, Malam Nasir el-Rufai has been strongly criticised by cross section of Nigerians over his comment, warning those calling for foreign intervention in Nigeria’s electoral system that there will be dire consequences and anyone who dares to intervene will return in body bags. “Those that are calling for anyone to come and intervene in Nigeria, we are waiting for the person that would come and intervene, they would go back in body bags,” he stated. el-Rufai, who was speaking against the backdrop of comments following the Nigerian government accusation of foreign powers including the United States, United Kingdom and the European Union of actions that could be deemed as interference, and warned of consequences over the suspension of Chief Justice Walter Onnoghen, said Nigeria as an independent nation does not need any outsider to dictate to it on how to run its affairs. The members of the international community had warned that the decision by President Muhammadu Buhari to unilaterally suspend Onnoghen could affect the credibility of the general election that is only weeks away. el-Rufai, who is a governor on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and a staunch supporter of President Muhammadu Buhari, would not take criticisms of anyone who demands foreign intervention in Nigeria’s elections. He featured on NTA’s Tuesday Live programme anchored by veteran broadcaster, Cyril Stober. He warned that individual countries had no right to violate Nigeria’s sovereignty, adding that while Nigeria had intervened militarily in Sierra Leone and Liberia in the 1990s, it was done based on the resolution of the international community and as a gesture of “neighbourliness”. el-Rufai said that Nigeria is an independent entity whose sovereignty would never be compromised in servitude to foreign powers. “We are trying to run our country as decently as possible,” he said, adding that foreign countries have also had their own share of “tough” phases before attaining their current developmental strides. However, el-Rufai’s statement did not go down well with many persons and groups, especially the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which has said that if the APC will not call its members to order at a time like this, it may be forced to rescind its commitment to the peace accord signed ahead of next week poll. The party said after due consideration of comments, threats and incendiary actions by the APC and top functionaries of the Buhari Presidency, which are directly inimical to a peaceful, free and fair election, it is left with no option than to consider a review of its signatory in the national peace accord, if no action is immediately taken to curb this trend. The PDP described as huge threat, comments by el-Rufai that members of the global democratic institutions that are working for a peaceful election in Nigeria will return to their countries in body bags. Addressing a press conference in Abuja on Wednesday, PDP spokesperson, Kola Ologbondiyan, said the party has alerted the international community to immediately impose a travel ban on el-Rufai for this inciting comment against peaceful elections in the country. The party particularly noted “the plot to redeploy, a former Chief Security Officer to APC leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, CP Kayode Egbetokun, as Kwara State Commissioner of Police, where he has been handed the instruction to incite the people, cause pandemonium and pave the way for outright rigging in favour of President Buhari and all other candidates on the platform of APC. “This is in line with plans by the Buhari Presidency and the APC to effect a mass deployment of top security officers, particularly the police, to intimidate, harass and manhandle Nigerians that will not support the self-succession bid of President Muhammadu Buhari as well as aiding APC thugs to snatch ballot boxes and orchestrate violence in the elections. “Nigerians are aware of how CP Kayode Egbetokun was posted to Lagos State by the disgraced former Inspector General of Police, Idris Ibrahim, to serve the same partisan interest and how that posting was stopped by the new IGP Adamu Mohammed. Now, he is being redeployed to Kwara State for the same ignoble plot. “It is necessary to state that the PDP is a party of peace and we are committed to the peace accord. However, the deployment of the Kayode Egbetokun as Kwara CP directly negates the principle of the Peace Accord and can only hurt the fragile peace that currently exists in Kwara State”. The party reminded the acting Inspector General, Adamu Mohammed, that his acceptability among Nigerians across party line was based on the pedigree, which was presented to Nigerians before his appointment. These pedigree and exposure, according to PDP, place on the IGP’s shoulders, the responsibility to be just, firm, equitable and professional in the discharge of his duties. It urged Mohammed not to allow his reputation to be mired in controversial political activities. Also, the PDP called on the National Peace Committee to note the infractions by the APC and its leaders to the peace accord, including the provocative shut down of all the stadia in Kano State by the state governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, in order to frustrate the PDP Presidential campaign rallies in the state. It asked the National Peace Committee to immediately summon el-Rufai on his inflammatory remarks against peaceful election in our country. “The PDP hold that any situation that seeks to allow the APC to abuse the tenets of the accord will definitely force our party to review our signatory to the peace process. In that regard, we might have no option left than to allow our members to defend their votes with whatever that is available to them. “This country belongs to all of us and no individual or group, no matter how highly placed, can subjugate other citizens or seek to appropriate any sort of absolutism to themselves”, said Ologbondiyan. Also reacting to the statement, Prof. Chidi Odinkalu, former Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, said nothing el-Rufai says or does can surprise him anymore, but rather he was disappointed at the anchor of the programme, Cyril Stober for not intervening to put the governor in check. His words: “What can one really say about a governor going on national television to say those who get involved in Nigeria’s election will be sent back to their countries in body bags, did you see the look on Cyril Stober’s face when he said that, that is all that needs to be said, although having said that I want to say that I was disappointed that Cyril. “A very seasoned and authoritative journalist like him did not push back strongly against what el-Rufai said, he was rather meek and humble and rather clement, there was a responsibility in that situation for Cyril to have communicated the shock that he clearly showed and the disagreement, he needed to communicate that clearly, but he failed to do that, but I can no longer be shocked by anything that el-Rufai says or does, no.” Also reacting, the General Secretary of the Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP), Chief Willy Ezugwu, described el-Rufai as an extremist in whatever he does, saying “this was one of the anchor men of Obasanjo (former President Olusegun Obasanjo), today he is in APC and he also misfiring. “If you remember what he said about President Muhammadu Buhari in those days when he was eating with the PDP government, today he is in APC, but the unfortunate thing is for him to try to cause problems for Nigeria by using that language that they will return in body bags. Who will kill them, is it himself that will kill them, let him say who will kill them so they can come and pick him up. Nobody has the right to paint Nigeria in such light, he is a man that is power drunk, look at what he is doing in Kaduna. The Federal Government should know what to do with such people; they should do away with such sycophant,” he said. Describing the statement as nonsensical, former presidential aspirant on the platform of the APC, Chief Ude Udeogaranya, said el-Rufai, though a governor is an inconsequential figure in Nigeria’s international politics, who will always seek recognition and relevance, “but I cannot be reacting to persons like that, he does not merit my response, he is only seeking attention by that nonsensical statement.” Former member of the House of Representatives, who represented Epe Federal Constituency and a frontline member of the APC, Hon. Lanre Odubote, is disappointed by such utterances. He wonders why a governor will say such a thing. He said: “If you are a recipient of many international donations, you signed many international treaties, then such a statement is uncalled for, unless you want to stay on your own and be an island unto yourself. What is the relevance of going into the United Nations when you cannot behave in line with international laws and statutes? I didn’t expect such a statement from such a person, no.” Also speaking, Elder Jide Ajao, an Ibadan based political analyst and political activist, said the governor should be conscious of his office before uttering statements. He said: “He (el- Rufai) might not mean it in such context in which people are interpreting him. “I am not being partisan here. You know I used to be a member of the PDP before staying off partisan politics. He, el-Rufai, though has been one of the mouthpiece of the APC, he took that statement too far. But the PDP has taken the interpretation too far. “Public office holders should always weigh their statement before pronouncement.” Pastor Moses Sule, a coordinator of Atiku Solidarity Movement in Abuja Municipal Council (AMAC), countered the governor. He said: “If it were to be any leader of the PDP or any other party that said such thing, I know that the Presidency and the APC must have read meanings to this. In fact, they might have arrested the person that uttered the statement. “What was Deji Adeyanju’s offence that he has been remanded in prison? It is a known fact that Senator Dino Melaye has been suffering untold hardship in the hands of security agencies because of his combative stance against the government of the day.” But, Chief Gbenle Adeyemi, a chieftain of the APC in Kwara State, said Governor el- Rufai should not be crucified. He said the governor was misunderstood. “In a bid to tell foreigners to steer clear of Nigeria’s internal politics, he was trying to say that any person or country trying to unduly interfere with Nigeria’s election will not be spared by the laws of the land. “So, I don’t see the reason why people should read such a weighty meaning to his statement.” However, the Kaduna State governor, on Wednesday, clarified his statement, saying he was only defending Nigeria’s sovereignty. “Affirming that a country will defend itself against needless intervention is the kind of statement you expect to hear from a patriot. It is not a call for violence,” the governor said in the statement signed by his spokesperson, Samuel Aruwan. Aruwan said he was not surprised by the reaction of the opposition members, saying, “A notorious trait of the characters that constitute the opposition in Nigeria is the manufacture of outrage on flimsy grounds. “However, contriving anger on false premises and summoning a din of feverish commentary will not alter the facts. Election season is regarded as silly season in some quarters, but it is a very serious moment. “When Malam Nasir el-Rufai appeared on NTA’s Tuesday Night Live, he made comments every patriot can understand. He stood up for Nigeria’s dignity in the wake of those who would traduce their country and reduce it to the status of a colony in their vain quest for power. “The video of his comments is in circulation. Any fair-minded person with modest familiarity with the English Language and unimpaired comprehension can understand it. It does not contain any call for violence. It is a powerful defence of sovereignty. Are some sections of our political class implying that they will acquiesce in or collaborate with foreign intervention in our country? “Affirming that a country will defend itself against needless intervention is the kind of statement you expect to hear from a patriot. It is not a call for violence. Warning about the consequences of meddling in another country’s affairs is legitimate. “Non-interference in the affairs of other countries is a basic principle of international law. Threatening to intervene in another country implies the use of force. Those who are basing their electoral calculations on foreign intervention need to be discouraged. Only the lawful votes of the Nigerian people should make or unmake governments. “Malam Nasir el-Rufai has issued a powerful call for vigilance and a clear notice that other countries should not mistake the supine posture of the opposition for national weakness. “Malam Nasir el-Rufai has stood firmly against those who have been trying to divide Nigerians on ethnic and religious lines. He is resolutely opposed to violence, and firmly committed to peace and harmony,” he said.