BY EDMOND ODOK, ABUJA – The National Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, says Nigerians must no longer tolerate erring public institutions and agencies that continuously embarrass the country with their actions or inactions.
This is even as he challenged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to come clean and inform Nigerians about its plans going forward between now and Saturday, February 23 when the re-scheduled presidential and NASS elections will eventually hold across the country.
Comrade Oshiomhole said the time has come for the people to hold accountable all state institutions whose disposition in delivering on their statutory mandates tends to threaten or weaken Nigeria’s democracy.
Speaking at the APC caucus meeting in Abuja on Monday, Oshiomhole appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari call such institutions to order so that they do not constitute any danger to the nation’s democracy.
The Caucus meeting, attended by President Buhari, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and Presidential Campaign Council co-chairman, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, NEC members and other APC’s top shots, was called to review issues around the rescheduled general elections by INEC as well as the party’s field operations after the botched exercise of Saturday, February 16, 2019.
The APC Chairman accused INEC of hidden agenda in the forthcoming polls, saying; “We must insist that elections should not be compromised and the Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) that have compromised the elections should be made to account.”
According to him, APC is determined to extract from the electoral umpire explanations on some worrisome issues arising from the polls’ postponement and will therefore formally present its protest letter to the INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu.
He said given the Commission’s submission that 180,000 card readers were being re-configured for 176,000 polling units across the country, the question arising thereof is if the remaining 4,000 would be enough to cope with emergencies.
The APC National Chairman also the Commission of deliberately moving to deny the ruling APC of votes in its stronghold, insisting that INEC should have made provision for extra 176,000 card readers for emergency purposes.
He further demanded explanations from the electoral body on what it would do differently to tackle the challenge of sample ballot papers and result sheets that are already in public domain.
Similarly, Oshiomhole said it was important for INEC to come clean by transparently informing Nigerians how it intends deliver a free, fair and credible elections between now and Saturday, February 23 when the presidential and NASS elections eventually take place nationwide.
Insisting that “INEC violated our confidence and must try to convince us to regain it”, he also said APC would continue campaign because INEC is not empowered to ban political campaigns outside the provisions of the 2015 Electoral Act.
He stated that any action taken by the electoral umpire outside the existing law was ‘illegal and unconstitutional’ stressing that; “We are entitled to resume campaign until 24 hours to the elections.”
