Tom Okpe, Abuja
Former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Timi Frank, has called on the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu and the Chief of Army Staff Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai to prove their neutrality on Saturday February 16 and March 2nd, by allowing a free, fair and credible election.
Frank in a statement signed on Monday in Abuja, said rather than the military intimidating him by calling for his arrest, they should tell Nigerians if the Chief of Army Staff did or did not attend a midnight meeting he referred to in his statement on Sunday.
Frank said: “I cannot be intimidated. I am not afraid of being arrested. Nigeria needs free, fair and credible elections necessary to ensure peace, sustain democracy and national development.
“Let me add that INEC owes Nigerians and the world a sacred duty to allow votes during the forthcoming elections to count rather than openly taking sides by attending suspicious meetings.
“Let Mahmood Yakubu prove to Nigerians that he is not pro-APC by allowing for transparency and impartiality of his staff during the presidential and National Assembly Elections on Saturday 16th February and the Governorship and State Assembly elections on March 2nd.
“Let the COAS tell Nigerians that the ongoing massive deployment of military personnel to opposition strongholds across the country is not meant to intimidate opposition leaders in order to pave way for the APC to unduly win as they did during the Ekiti and Osun states gubernatorial elections.
“I stand by my earlier statement on the highly suspicious midnight meeting with PMB and his top aides. No amount of threat or intimidation will stop me.
“Let me once again call on INEC to conduct a free, fair and credible elections in February 16 and March 2, 2019.
I also urge the military to stir clear of politics by concentrating on their core constitutional mandate before, during and after the 2019 elections”, he said.
