PDP Accuses APC of Discrediting Use of Soldiers During Elections

Director of  the PDPPCO, Femi Fani-Kayode

 

The Peoples Democratic Party Presidential Campaign Organisation (PDPPCO) on Thursday raised the alarm over what it termed the move by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to discredit the use of soldiers during elections in the country.

Though it said  the Attorney General of the Federation is the preferred person to comment on the deployments of soldiers during elections, it  noted that President Goodluck Jonathan would not work against the judgments that ruled against the use of military during elections.

The Justice Abdul Aboki-led five-man panel of judges that sat in Abuja in the appeal against the election of Ekiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose, in  a unanimous judgment said the Justice Siraju-Mohammed-led tribunal in its verdict delivered on December 19, 2014, “hurriedly” dismissed the appellant’s allegations of harassment by the military on the grounds that it lacked jurisdiction to hear such.

The appellate court held that though the tribunal had rightly struck out the names of the Chief of Army Staff and the Inspector General of Police as respondents in the petition in accordance with provisions of the Electoral Act, it ought to have determined the appellant’s complaints and considered the two parties as agents of INEC or individuals working on behalf of the commission.

It however reiterated that the use of Armed Forces in the conduct of elections was in violation of section 217(2)(c) of the Constitution and section 1 of the Armed Forces Act.

It cited and relied on a judgment delivered  by Justice R. M Aikawa of the Federal High Court in Sokoto on January 29, 2015, barring the use of the armed forces in the conduct of elections. The appellate court therefore barred the use of the Armed Forces in the conduct of future elections in the country as such constituted a violation of both the Constitution and the Electoral Act.

But reacting to the judgment regarding the use of the army during elections at a press conference yesterday, the Director of  the PDPPCO, Femi Fani Kayode, said:

“The attempt by the APC to discredit the use of soldiers by promoting some misleading audio tapes of the so-called rigging during the Ekiti governorship election, in which one Captain Sagir Koli was the dramatis personae, is childish and absurd.

“The federal government deployed soldiers in the Anambra, Edo, Ondo, Ekiti and Osun gubernatorial elections and all those elections were devoid of violence.  Remarkably, the APC won in Edo and Osun; APGA won in Anambra, Labour Party won in Ondo while the PDP won only in Ekiti State.

“The basis on which the APC is agitating for the exclusion of soldiers from the election by sponsoring court cases is patently dubious and untenable.  The reason that the APC and its leaders do not want soldiers deployed is to be able to intimidate voters and unleash violence on the polity once they lose the elections. They know that it would be far more difficult for them to do that when soldiers are on the streets.

“With these dishonourable tactics and desperate acts by the APC, we are the ones who should be worried and who should be complaining but, unlike Buhari and the APC, our patience is not running out because we are committed to a peaceful election and we completely reject the option of violence.”

According to Fani-Kayode, “The President is a law abiding citizen, I know that this government will not walk against the Court judgement. We have a law abiding government but moreover, I will allow the Attorney General of the Federation to speak on this matter.”

The PDP Director of the presidential campaigns said the APC’s opposition to the use of military in the conduct of elections is due to its plan to unleash violence on Nigerians. He cited the comments by the APC Presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd), on Arise Television, stating that it is indicative of plots to unleash violence.

He said, “Again, only yesterday, Wednesday, February 18, 2015, in an interview on Arise Television, General Buhari was asked what his reaction would be if he loses the election.  His answer was: “We shall see.”

According to Fani Kayode, “As far as we are concerned, these are ominous and subtle threats to unleash violence on the Nigerian people and all those that he perceives are his enemies in the event of his losing the election.

General Buhari, with his characteristic incendiary and inciting statements, has succeeded in inflaming the destructive passion of his supporters in the northern part of the country on many occasions in the past.

“We recall his unacceptable remarks on May 15, 2012 when he said “if what happened in 2011 should happen again in 2015, the dog and the baboon would be soaked in blood.”

“We witnessed the orgy of violence that they unleashed shortly after the announcement of the results of the 2011 presidential election, which the Sheik Lemu Committee, in its report to the federal government, said was caused by Buhari’s inflammatory statements.

“We recall with sadness the massacre of some of our vibrant youth corpers who participated in the 2011 election as INEC’s ad-hoc staff in Bauchi State.  We are concerned that the same thing may happen again given General Buhari’s divisive and inciting comments coupled with the APC’s violent disposition.”

He further referred to the APC campaigns in Maidugiri, Borno State, saying,
“What happened in Maiduguri last Monday when General Buhari went there gives cause for concern.  His irate supporters burnt down the campaign offices of our party and torched our vehicles.

“We also saw pictures of some under-age boys carrying lethal weapons such as AK 47 and Dane guns. This is irresponsible and dangerous. The question must be asked:  are we running elections or going for war?

“The PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation hereby declares unequivocally that the sordid killing of youth corpers or anyone else must not be repeated in the forthcoming elections. It is for this reason that the federal government must deploy soldiers to ensure peace, stability and security during and after the elections,” the PDP Presidential Campaign spokesperson said.