APC condemns PDP’s ‘vote-robbery’ in Offa
THE All Progressives Congress (APC) has condemned what it called “the daylight vote-robbery” by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in last Saturday’s rerun in Offa Local Government Area of Kwara State.The party said the result had shown that the PDP, whether old or new, was irredeemable.
Rising from its National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in Abuja, the APC said everyone who witnessed or monitored the election confirmed that the APC won it convincingly.
In a statement yesterday in Abuja by its Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the APC said the impunity perpetrated by the PDP had started hunting it, after its candidate in the Shawo Southwest Ward, Mr. Afolabi Olawale Jimoh, repudiated his “victory”, just as one of the presiding officers, Mr. Akeem Oyetunji, said the APC won the councillorship and chairmanship in Shawo Central Ward.
“This is a damning evidence that should make it clear to the PDP that its impunity cannot stand, that there are still Nigerians who have conscience and would sacrifice even their political and other careers for their integrity.
“In view of this, the APC calls on the PDP, which has been working in cahoots with the Kwara State Independent Electoral Commission the (KWSIEC), to regurgitate the victory it wilfully swallowed, and from which it has now become so constipated and uncomfortable,” it said.
APC hailed Mr. Jimoh and Mr Oyetunji for their decency and honesty, attributes the party said were very rare in today’s Nigeria under the watch of the PDP.
It also hoped that all the other conspirators in last Saturday’s “monumental electoral heist” would emulate the two virtuous Kwara State politicians who he described as “rare species of mankind”.
The party said the so-called New PDP had a chance to use the Offa election to show that it is different from the old PDP, which it accused of lacking in internal democracy and not having regard for the rule of law.
APC said: “It is now clear that the saying that ‘fruit does not fall far from the tree’, is true for the so-called New PDP. Presented with a chance to show that it is different from its vote-stealing, violence-peddling and impunity-prone ‘father’, the New PDP failed the test by engaging in bare-faced conversion of defeat to victory in Offa and then daring the party that has been robbed to go to court.
“What message is the New PDP sending to the world when it could engage in such impunity in Offa? What other argument does it have now that one of its candidates, on whose behalf votes were stolen, has said his conscience and religion would not let him take what is not his?
“The only way this New PDP can redeem itself is to immediately own up to the fact that it has denied the people of Offa their right to choose their councillors and chairman, and to accept its defeat in last Saturday’s rerun.”
The Kwara State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday said Jimoh was not among its councillorship candidates in last Saturday’s rerun in Offa Local Government.
Jimoh, who was the party’s candidate for Shawo Southwest Ward during the rerun, on Wednesday publicly rejected his “victory” at the poll.
He said the APC candidate won in the ward.
The PDP said another man, Olagunju Olalekan, was its councillorship candidate.
But the APC chairmanship candidate in the election, Prince Saheed Popoola, described the PDP and the state government’s denial as a face-saving ploy.
He said Jimoh exhibited uncommon patriotism and sincerity to own up to the fraud perpetrated by KWSIEC and the PDP.
Addressing reporters yesterday in Ilorin, the state capital, the PDP Secretary, Prince Yemi Afolayan, described Jimoh as an impostor.
Though Afolayan said Jimoh was the PDP’s councillorship candidate in an earlier poll, which was upturned by the Election Appeal Tribunal, he added that Jimoh had defected to the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) before its metamorphosis to the APC.
Afolayan said: “Olawale (Jimoh) cannot claim to be PDP’s candidate in the rerun because he had defected to the (defunct) ACN – now APC – about two years ago.
“We had written a letter to KWSIEC days before the rerun, seeking the substitution of Olawale (Jimoh) with Olagunju as our councillorship candidate for Sawo Southwest.”
The PDP secretary presented to reporters the party’s candidate for Sawo Southwest Ward with 11 other councillors elected on the PDP platform.
But Popoola faulted Afolayan’s claims, in a statement yesterday in Ilorin.
He said: “The PDP is making two funny and almost conflicting claims. One: that the fellow is not their candidate in the election; so, the issue of him disowning the result does not arise. Two: that he had since defected to the APC, and so had been replaced.” “A governor’s spokesman, Femi Akorede, made some of these laughable claims on Channels TV this morning (yesterday). We take it that he was totally ignorant of the issues involved. Also, we are used to his routine lies!
“Both claims regarding the candidate are against common sense – which is not common, anyway!
“We ask the PDP to answer these posers: whose name did the KWSIEC display as the PDP candidate for the ward? Anybody who has seen the list of PDP councillorship candidates will see that Mr Afolabi Adewole Jimoh was conspicuously listed as the PDP councillorship candidate for Sawo Southwest Ward. He is No. 6 on the list.
“Also, can the PDP change a candidate for a rerun? Is that allowed under the law, except in the event of death and maybe voluntary stepping down of that candidate, which he must communicate to the electoral body? The answer, of course, is No!
“For the avoidance of doubt, we approached the KWSIEC to change one of our councillorship candidates and the answer was an emphatic No! May we also put it on record that our party demanded and got the list of the candidates for the election, including the list for the PDP, just to be on the side of caution.
“We enjoin the public and the media to call for the court paper the PDP filed, dated February 22, 2011, challenging the result of Sawo Southwest Ward and see if Mr Jimoh was not the applicant who sued our candidate, Adefioye Kayode.
“We made this point to counter the lie that Mr Jimoh was not part of the litigation that led to the court judgment.
“Finally, we are surprised that five days after the election was held, all the KWSIEC has done on radio was to announce a blanket result without telling us who scored what from what ward and so on. We call on the KWSIEC to immediately release the breakdown of its bogus results, which, we will definitely challenge in court.”
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has called for the dissolution of the Kwara State Independent Electoral Commission (KWSIEC).
The party alleged that the Dr Uthman Ajidagba-led KWSIEC has several card-carrying PDP members.
The APC Kwara South Coordinator Kayode Zubair said the illegal declaration of the PDP candidates in the councillorship and chairmanship rerun in Offa Local Government on August 31 has made the people to lose confidence in the commission.
Addressing reporters yesterday in Omupo, Ifelodun Local Government Area, Zubair said: “We call for the immediate dissolution of KWSIEC. We have lost confidence in that organ. We don’t believe it will conduct a free and fair election on October 26.” Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
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If APC wins, the election is decleared credible. If PDP wins, the election is rigged. Look, all these pot bellie politicians, after making these pronouncements, remember to send your own children to do the fighting. Don't decieve the innocent children of the poor. As far as I am concern, you all rig elections. It is the one that rigs the most that is usually decleared the winner by INEC. None of you is innocent. I don't know how you always muster up the courage to 'cast the first stone'.
ReplyDeleteHunn ! !! !!! !!!! !!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PDP ?
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