The Governor of Ekiti State, Mr. Ayodele
Fayose, has accused the Independent
National Electoral Commission of failing to
conduct credible and conclusive elections
under President Muhammadu Buhari.
“Democracy in Nigeria is being threatened
by INEC and this should call for national
and international reflection,” the governor
said in reaction to the alleged manipulation
of the Imo North Senatorial election, which
was declared inconclusive.
The Special Assistant to the governor on
Public Communications and New Media,
Lere Olayinka, quoted the governor as
saying that the current approach to the
conduct of elections was a call to anarchy.
He said, “If we have done more than 15
elections since President Buhari assumed
office and all ended inconclusive, it is
obvious that we are tending towards
anarchy.
“It is becoming very clear that votes of
Nigerians are no longer allowed to count
under this APC government and one
wonders if President Buhari would have
been elected if the system then did not
allow free and fair elections.”
Fayose called on Nigerians to be more
concerned with institutionalising
democracy than on who wins elections.
He said, “The only duty the APC
government owes Nigerians is to allow for
a system that will make them to be able to
elect their leaders freely.
“This system was created and allowed to
flourish by the Peoples Democratic Party
government. The APC, which is obviously
desperate to hijack power at all levels
through open manipulation of the electoral
process must know that preventing
people’s votes from counting is a clear
invitation to anarchy.
“As it is, APC stalwarts are using security
agents to unleash violence on Nigerians
during elections because they know that
the president won’t lift a finger provided
his party members are the ones
perpetrating electoral evil.”
The governor said the INEC Chairman,
Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, should be worried
about the image of the electoral
commission under him.
While urging INEC to be mindful of its
importance to the sustenance of
democracy in Nigeria, Fayose said the
electoral body must maintain its
independence and impartiality at all times.
“Nigeria was already getting that important
aspect of democracy, which is election
right before the advent of this APC
government and the government, especially
INEC should be mindful of what history will
present concerning them,” he said.
Source: punchng
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