• Nigerians must protect civil rule –Oyegun • Presidency denies repression against APC
Former Governor of Kaduna State, Alhaji Balarabe Musa, on Friday expressed deep concern over the involvement of the military in the conduct of elections in the country, warning that President Goodluck Jonathan, as the Commander in Chief of Arm Forces, should be held responsible if the democratic rule is truncated by soldiers.
He spoke on the heels of the reported ambush of some All Progressives Congress (APC) governors by military men on their way to the campaign rally of Governor Kayode Fayemi on Thursday in Ekiti State.
“What is happening now calls for serious examination and caution. The Presidency is going too far by allowing military to interfere with election process. That was what led to the collapse of the Second Republic when the Federal Government was over using the police against the people and the military took over power,” Balarabe said. “The government is already militarizing the people and before you know it, things can backfire. There is no way military could be acting the way they did against those APC governors without getting orders from President Goodluck Jonathan. The people must be wise to defend their rights under democratic rule. If anything happens to democracy in Nigeria, Jonathan should be held responsible.”
According to him, “what you are witnessing is an exhibition of incompetence on the part of government and as such they are now resorting to the use of military might. How far this will go, only time will tell but I want President Jonathan to learn from history because power doesn’t last forever.”
Similarly, Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State, one of the governors ambushed by soldiers on their way to the rally said that there may be no election in 2015 if what he termed the “naked show of power by the Federal Government and its collaborators in uniform, is not checked.”
He made the assertions at a press conference of APC held in Lagos on Friday, following the ordeal he went through in the hands of soldiers on Thursday.
“Press also helps to build democracy. So people must begin to ask from now if there is an agenda, if not there would be no election. If you watch well, you will see that civilians in power are sharing power with the military.”
Also the APC National Chairman, John Odigie – Oyegun, on Friday said he had written a letter to President Jonathan, urging him to halt the impunity in Ekiti and not to plunge Nigeria into a political crisis, adding that the Federal Government has now turned Ekiti into a war zone.
“The final electioneering campaign of our candidate in the Ekiti election, Gov. Kayode Fayemi, provided the perfect setting for the Jonathan-led administration to bare its fangs with a series of arbitrariness and unconstitutional acts that threatened the very fabric of our democracy.
“We urge President Goodluck Jonathan to live up to his pledge, made several times over, that he would always ensure that elections held under his watch are free and fair, and that his ambition is 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.
“We remind the President not to allow Nigeria to explode under his watch, through acts of omission or commission. We urge him to take a lesson from history, and to realise that the crisis of 1965, 1983 and 1993 all started from the South-west over elections that were either manipulated or annulled. Our country is still reeling from the effects of those crises and we cannot afford to plunge the nation into another crisis.
Oyegun, however, called on the people of Ekiti to go out and vote massively for the candidates of their choice, adding that they should not allow the overwhelming presence of security agents to intimidate them, “if that is what their deployment was programmed to achieve. They must defend their votes to the hilt and reject any attempt by a band of desperadoes to choose their leaders for them. After all, ultimate power flows from the people,” he said.
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), also condemned the action against the APC governors.
In a statement its president, Abdulwahed Ibrahim Omar said: “We at the Nigeria Labour Congress condemn in strong terms the denial of access to Ekiti of some APC governors notably, Rotimi Amaechi, Adams Oshiomhole, Musa Kwankwaso and Wammakko of Rivers, Edo, Kano and Sokoto states. The governors were billed to take part in the party’s last mega rally before the gubernatorial election in Ekiti State.”
“The security officers that barred the governors cited orders from above. We wonder who gave these orders and on the basis of which authority the orders were given.
“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.
“It is also a violation of their constitutional right to freely move, associate and express themselves. The hypocrisy of these orders is laid bare by the selective implementation as the Ministers of Defence and Police Affairs, (both of PDP), Musiliu Obanikoro and Jelili Adesanya, were said to have been given passage with fanfare.
“This conduct is not only a tyrannical use of power but an assault on our hard earned democracy and must not be allowed to stand. 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.
He also warned against the militarization of the state as this has the potential of scaring voters from exercising their civic duty.
In a similar vein, President/Convener, Nigeria Voters Assembly (VOTAS), Mashood Erubami said, “the stoppage of Oshiomole’s chopper from leaving Benin and baring of Amaechi’s convoy from entering Ekiti is to say the least condemnable, a slide into stone age politics and a strong signal that subsequent elections up to 2015 will not be contested competitively.
“The acts, regardless of denials from the perpetrators are indication that human rights are no more respected and would be further endangered as we move dangerously towards 2015.
Also, a University of Ibadan classics lecturer, Doyin Odebowale, said, “It serves no useful purpose than to assist the incumbent. There is no curfew in Ekiti State. Jonathan has no right to over heat the polity unnecessarily.
Source: Daily Independent
