FG, PDP in verbal war over alleged plan to truncate polls

...Opposition politicians orchestrating widespread violence to stop elections, FG alleges …PDP: Allegation absolute falsehood, not be taken seriously The Federal Government and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) sharply disagreed over the veracity of the alleged plot to truncate the forthcoming general election which begins in few weeks’ time. The Federal Government on Monday said it is in possession of credible intelligence confirming that opposition politicians are orchestrating widespread violence to truncate the forthcoming general election. Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, made the allegation at a world press conference he addressed on behalf of the government in Abuja on Monday. ‘‘As you are aware, Nigeria goes to the polls just 27 days from now. ‘‘However, the Federal Government is in possession of credible intelligence to the effect that widespread violence being orchestrated by the opposition is threatening the 2019 general elections,’’ he said. On the reasons for the plot, the minister said the opposition politicians, having realised that their fortunes had dwindled ahead of the polls, were orchestrating widespread violence with a view to truncating the elections. ‘‘You have definitely seen the massive and warm reception that President Muhammadu Buhari has been receiving across the country, compared to the thinning crowds that have been attending the opposition rallies. ‘‘The desperate opposition is orchestrating widespread violence with a view to truncating the elections, thus triggering a constitutional crisis that could snowball into the establishment of an interim government,’’ he said. Mohammed buttressed the Federal Government’s claims and allegation against the opposition politicians to justify that the government was not just crying wolf. He said: ‘‘We have credible intelligence that bandits and Boko Haram insurgents have been mobilised to engage in massive attacks and other acts of violence in several states across the country. ‘‘The states include Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Benue, Kano, Kaduna, Nasarawa, Plateau, Taraba and Zamfara. ‘‘The Benue-based armed criminal group, led by Terwase AKWAZA, also known as Gana, has been commissioned to strike soft targets in Benue, Nasarawa, and Taraba states. ‘‘In Kano State, a group of notorious miscreants have been mobilised by some prominent opposition leaders to provoke massive chaos before, during and after the elections.’’ He added that there was also an international dimension to the evil plan. ‘‘Some armed mercenaries from Niger Republic have been contracted to attack top government functionaries, including state governors, across the North-West between now and the elections,’’ he said. The minister said the Federal Government is taking every possible measure to counter the evil plans by unpatriotic anarchists and would ensure the smooth conduct of the forthcoming general elections. He assured of the President Buhari-led Administration’s commitment to credible, free, fair and peaceful elections was unshaken. Mohammed appealed to all Nigerians to be vigilant in the days ahead. He also appealed to the media to help in sensitising members of the public to the observed threats, capable of disrupting the elections. ‘‘The punchline of our long running campaign on security – if you see something, say something – remains relevant, perhaps even more, at this time,’’ he said. He said all the relevant agencies under his ministry would work together to ensure that Nigerians are alerted to the dangers posed to the forthcoming elections by the unpatriotic characters planning to destabilise the country in order to realise their inordinate ambitions Reacting, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) however debunked the claim of security threats by Alhaji Lai Mohammed, describing it as absolute falsehood which must not be taken seriously. Director of Media & Publicity, PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation, Kola Ologbondiyan, said such allegations only exists in the minds of Alhaji Lai Mohammed. Ologbondiyan, at a press conference he addressed on Monday in Abuja on certain issues of urgent national importance as they affect the 2019 general election, said the claims of fresh threats to the security of the nation by Alhaji Lai Mohammed was just the nefarious plans of the All Progressives Congress (APC) government. He said “it is imperative to state that the PDP finds the claims of Alhaji Lai Mohammed, irresponsible and ludicrous. It is just a measure for building the ground for framing up and arrest of leading members of the opposition as he has just confirmed our concerns”. He noted that Mohammed’s claims exposes manifest complicity at very high level and displayed desperation by the APC ahead of the general election. According to him, the PDP calls on Nigerians to hold President Buhari directly responsible for any escalation of violence in the country because it had alerted the nation that the APC and the Buhari Presidency, having come to the reality of their imminent and disgraceful loss at the polls, have embarked on a strategy to foment crisis in the country and blame the opposition. “On behalf of Nigerians, we thank Alhaji Lai Mohammed for mustering the courage to bring the nefarious plans of the APC to the public. The PDP and Nigerians are prepared for a peaceful election in defence of our democracy. “The PDP, as known to all Nigerians and the world, is a party that preaches and function by peace. We have conducted rallies in many states and geo-political zones without a record of violence. “The APC cannot make a similar claim of a peaceful rally in its few attempts at interacting with its members and the public. “Its party primaries ended in violence and multiple deaths. Its rally in Lagos State ended in a fiasco and recorded fatalities. Its Presidential candidate is known all over the world for inciting supporters against peace-loving Nigerians, when he said that baboon and dogs will soak in their blood,” he stated. The Peoples Democratic Party used the occasion to challenge the Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, to rise above the manifest compromises and conduct the 2019 general election in a transparent manner. Ologbondiyan said the entire nation is worried and the palpable fear of every Nigerian today is whether Mahmood Yakubu can conduct an election, which will indeed be free, fair, credible and transparent. He said “this is particularly as allegations are rife in the public space that the INEC Chairman is being compromised by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Buhari Presidency with offers of huge sums of money, choice property within and outside Nigeria, as well as juicy appointments to his relations as bribes, in return for the rigging of the elections in favour of President Muhammadu Buhari and the APC. “The PDP urges Prof. Yakubu to resist any such pressure. This is especially as many Nigerians fear that this is the reason behind the compromising insistence by INEC to lump together the accreditation of voters and voting, a situation that will muddle up the process and pave the way for participation of aliens, underage and unregistered voters and allocate fictitious figures in favour of President Buhari and the APC. “This scenario is also feared to be the reason INEC is succumbing to pressure by the Buhari Presidency to retain Mrs. Amina Zakari, President Buhari’s relation by marriage, as head of the collation centre, where she is being positioned to alter genuine results and allocate fictitious figures in favour of President Buhari. “We already have information that the geo-spatial centres created by the INEC Chairman in the six geo-political zones have also been dubiously duplicated by Mrs. Amina Zakari in all the zones from where APC and Buhari Presidency intend to assemble fictitious votes and transmit same to INEC’s data base and situation room. “We are also aware that the process of employing Ad-hoc staff that will function as electoral officers, particularly in the Presidential election have already been compromised to favour the APC under Mahmood Yakubu’s watch to manipulate the process”, he said. The PDP, therefore, in the strongest terms, charged Mahmood Yakubu to demonstrate his credibility and ability to conduct free, fair and transparent elections by taking urgent and decisive steps to show that he has not been compromised by the APC and the Buhari Presidency. To do this, the party demanded that Prof. Mahmood Yakubu immediately rejig the electoral guidelines in a way that accreditation must be first concluded, number of accredited voters ascertained and openly announced before actual voting. He said “anything short of this will only validate the position of Nigerians that INEC has been compromised by the APC. “Similarly, Prof. Yakubu cannot claim to be committed to a credible election with the continued stay of Amina Zakari as head of the collation centre, in spite of manifest conflict of interest. Prof. Yakubu must without further delay remove Amina Zakari from this sensitive position, if he indeed intends to conduct a credible collation of Presidential results. “Furthermore, to hedge any infraction from the dubious duplication of the geo-spatial centres by Amina Zakari, the PDP insists that INEC’s final collation centre must be made open to agents of all the Presidential candidates as well as representatives of national and international observers. “While we note that President Buhari has bowed to pressure by Nigerians and eased out Ibrahim Idris as Inspector General of Police, we urge him to also lend credence to the electoral process by easing out his relation by marriage, Amina Zakari, from INEC. “In the same vein, following revelations that the process of recruiting INEC Ad-hoc staff has been compromised to favour the APC, the PDP insists that Prof. Yakubu must publish the names of all the ad-hoc staff that have been recruited, in their respective constituencies, to enable voters in those areas to assess the independence and integrity of such electoral officers. “We charge Prof. Yakubu to note that this election is very crucial to the survival of our nation and that he is now at the epicenter of the future of our country. He must therefore rise above offers of compromises surrounding him. “We believe that Prof. Yakubu has a name to protect. He must know that there is a life after office. We hope and pray that he will not end up like the disgraced last Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Kpotum Idris. Prof. Yakubu should know that Nigerians will hold him directly responsible if the 2019 general election is derailed”. Reacting to various insinuations, the INEC chairman Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, said the Commission will not be distracted by comments, criticism or accusation as election come closer. He said “as election move closer, there will be accusations and counter- accusations. But we will not be distracted. We will be more committed to successful conduct of credible elections”. Mathew Dadiya and Tunde Opalana, Abuja