The All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Organisation (APCPCO) has said that it will send a petition against President Goodluck Jonathan to the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague.
The APCPCO said in a statement yesterday, signed by Mallam Garba Shehu, director of media and publicity, that the petition follows the massive terror unleashed on the residents of Lagos by armed pro-Jonathan groups under the dubious cover of a faction of the Oodua People’s Congress (OPC) on the pretext of demanding the sack of Professor Attahiru Jega, national chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The APC Presidential Campaign spokesman noted that the machete-wielding and gun-bearing pro-Jonathan groups marched round the major streets of Lagos, harassing and intimidating motorists, chanting anti-Jega songs in a manner that gave them away as acting the carefully-prepared script for the truncation of the general elections.
He said, “There was such disruption to the tranquillity of the city that warranted the citizens to scamper to safety in all directions, a foretaste of the violence they plan to unleash on Election Day.”
“Our investigations have confirmed that Monday’s (16th March, 2015) show was a dress-rehearsal for the main disruption planned for the general elections. Lagos, and the entire South West, being a stronghold of the All Progressives Congress (APC), have been marked for massive dishevelment and commotion that would involve killings, maimings and kidnappings.
“Our findings have further shown that the recent N9billion Pipeline Surveillance contract to OPC and some militant groups in Southern Nigeria was the elixir for the latest crude impudence of the pro-Jonathan armed groups. Indeed, the contract award was a subterfuge for the mobilisation of these murderous militant groups for the destruction of lives and properties to force the desire of the re-election of Dr Goodluck Jonathan on the Nigerian people.”
“As an opposition APC, we are using this medium to serve Dr Goodluck Jonathan the notice of our formal protest against this extreme show of impunity to the International Criminal Court (ICC). We are aware that Mrs Patience Jonathan is already on the watch list of ICC. The activities of this president and his wife as regards the elections are not patriotic and very unhelpful for entrenching democratic values in the nation”.
APC Warns Against Moves To Compromise Inec, Raises Alarm Over Election Booby Traps
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has said that the president’s decision to summon INEC chairman, Attahiru Jega, to a meeting that was not attended by other political parties in Abuja on Tuesday was part of ongoing moves to compromise the integrity of the electoral commission, which is expected to be fair and neutral.
In a statement issued in Abuja yesterday by its national publicity secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said it is wrong for the president, who himself is a candidate in the forthcoming elections, to be summoning the electoral umpire at will, especially when such meetings are populated by his appointees.
It stated, “Without the representatives of other political parties attending such meetings, irrespective of whether or not it is aimed at briefing security chiefs on the preparations for the polls, the ruling PDP and its presidential candidate are seeking to gain undue advantage over others ahead of the elections”.
“It is like the referee in a football match meeting with key officials of one of the teams ahead of the match. This is against the spirit of transparency and fairness and must stop forthwith.’’
“Had the representatives of other political parties apart from the PDP (the president is the leader of the PDP) attended the meeting, the widespread speculations that Jega’s life and job were threatened if he fails to drop the use of the card reader, as well as circulating reports that he will be removed before Saturday, would not have happened’’.
Buhari Commends Army Over Recaptured Towns
The presidential candidate of the APC, Muhammadu Buhari, has commended the Nigerian Armed Forces for its recent victories in recapturing territories held by the Boko Haram sect.
He, however, noted that military operations alone would not fight the evil of terrorism and insurgency, stressing the need for a multi-dimensional approach where the socio-economic issues prevalent in the country will be addressed to prevent a re-emergence of insurgency in the country.
General Buhari further said that any government desirous of confronting terrorism and insurgency must address the twin evils of poverty and deprivation.
He lamented that 11 months after 219 Chibok schoolgirls were abducted by the Boko Haram sect, the present administration has not been able to secure the release of the girls.
He said the abduction of the schoolgirls, which is a great embarrassment to the country, is one issue he would tackle headlong if voted into power.
APC said whatever briefings must be given by the INEC chairman on the elections must have in attendance the representatives of all the political parties that will participate in the elections.
It also decried clandestine meetings between some key presidency and INEC officials with a view to rigging the elections, warning the presidency to steer clear of the electoral officials if indeed they are desirous of a free, fair, credible and peaceful elections.
Meanwhile, the party has said the Presidency and the PDP cannot and must not be allowed to profit from their sponsorship of ethnic militias, including MASSOB and OPC, to create chaos and violence before, during and after the elections.It said the plot by the duo is to make the country so unsafe before the polls that members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), who are supposed to serve as electoral officials, will simply say they can no longer participate in the elections because they fear for their lives.
‘’This will simply truncate the elections and trigger a constitutional crisis, the exact scenario being plotted by the Jonathan Administration and the PDP to allow them to either perpetuate themselves in office or install an interim government,’’ APC said.
It said another booby trap on the path of holding the elections asrescheduled are the pending court cases against the use of the cardreader by INEC.
‘’Nigerians should note that nothing is yet guaranteed as far as the holding of the rescheduled elections is concerned. The Jonathan Administration and the PDP are still shopping for a court judgement to declare the use of the card reader unconstitutional, just because they are now painfully aware that Nigerians have rejected them and their party..
‘’We are therefore calling on all our compatriots to be more vigilant in the next few days to the elections. We are also alerting local and foreign observers, and the international community, to the ongoing shenanigans by the Jonathan Administration and the PDP to scuttle the polls,’’ APC said
In the past three weeks the Nigerian military and its allies from neighbouring countries have bombarded members of the Boko Haram sect in their enclaves in the north eastern part of the country.
The outcome of the intensified military onslaught is the recapturing of towns and communities held by the insurgents.
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