The All Progressives Congress (APC), on Monday warned in two separate statements that Nigeria might be heading into another constitutional crisis as election-postponement campaigners, having failed in that bid, are plotting another bid using the judiciary to make sure the elections do not hold.
“Despite their defeat in the court of public of opinion, the no-election proponents are now working hard on their back-up plan, which is to force a constitutional crisis that will ultimately lead to their goal: Interim Government!” Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, said at a press conference in Lagos.
And in a press statement issued in Abuja, the party’s Presidential Campaign Organization (APCPCO) drew attention to the gathering of individuals it dubbed the “Association of Jonathan-organized National Conference Attendees” whose sole objective is to truncate the general elections, particularly the February 14 presidential poll, thereby preventing an embarrassing shellacking for their benefactor, President Goodluck Jonathan.
In the statement, signed by Garba Shehu, the campaign’s Director of Media and Publicity, the party said it was more galling that one of the people involved, with a history of armed insurrection by way of attempted military putsch against a united Nigeria, had the effrontery to offer admonition against the conduct of election, as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution as amended for the virility of the Nigerian state.
"The ostensible reason of insecurity in some part of the country, though seemingly valid, pales into insignificance when put side by side with their real reasons,” Shehu said. “The fact of insecurity of lives and property, which has consigned a portion of the Nation state to a ragtag insurgency group, is in itself, a huge indictment of the government in failing in its primary responsibility as contemplated in Section 14 of 1999 Constitution as amended.”
He said that a government that has shown such insouciance to the security and welfare of the people should not be compensated with longer duration than contemplated by the statute book.
Mohammed underlined that the courts and tribunals are the main tools to be used in pursuing the devilish plot to pre-empt the elections, and that the proponents have re-strategized to procure 'pliant judges' to give outrageous and unpopular judgment at election tribunals and courts.
“Their hope is that such outrageous and unpopular judgment will help trigger massive violence across the country, which they will then leverage as an excuse to scuttle the elections and form an Interim Government,” he said, drawing attention to the many cases being filed against the APC candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, by those seeking to scuttle the elections.
“Make no mistake about it, the Jonathan Administration and the PDP do not want elections, despite their deceitful statements that they are ready for the polls, and they will stop at nothing to ensure that the polls do not hold as scheduled, if at all,” Mohammed said.
“This is why they have not been asking Nigerians to go and collect their PVCs, even when INEC has said the cards for all registered voters are now ready for collection, putting a lie to the campaign that the cards will not be ready before the elections.”
Mohammed therefore called on local and international election observers to take note of the scheming by the election-postponement campaigners because if they succeed, observers will have no elections to observe.
He also urged the Council of State not to allow itself to be used to scuttle the forthcoming elections, because it is in the interest of Nigeria and her people that the elections proceed as scheduled. He further urged Nigerians to remain vigilant and to continue to reject all attempts by anti-democratic forces to cling to or get power through means that are not democratic.
“If the Jonathan Administration and the PDP are indeed committed to the Feb. 14th and 28th dates for the elections, as they have said, we challenge them to heed our call for a two-day public holiday so that working class Nigerians who have yet to collect their PVCs can do so,” the spokesman said, pointing out that the APC states will declare two public holidays for this very purpose.
Also calling the attention of Nigerians and the international community to the repeated calls for the postponement of the forthcoming presidential election, Shehu asserted that the APC presidential campaign has no difficulty recognizing that those working towards such an end are working out the script of some agents in the ruling party. He called on the security agencies in the country to stop any further public parade by the outlawed group.
"Let us remind Nigerians that the power of our democracy has been tested in the past by this outlawed group during the June 12, 1993 presidential election and our democracy won and will win again,” he said. “No person or any faceless group of corrupt individuals can stop an idea which time has come. Nigerians made the call for a change in the country and the will of the people must prevail in February 14.”
He said it was clear that the current attempt to scuttle democracy is because of the impending defeat starring the ruling party in the face, stressing that the same individuals who scuttled democracy through the instrumentality of the ABN (Association of Better Nigeria) are at their game again, but having failed in the past, will fail again.
"Needless to say that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has shown its preparedness to conduct the February elections and very necessary for all Nigerian Patriots to rally behind the Electoral body in accomplishing the onerous task of delivering a good election!” Shehu said.
Full text of the Press Conference Addressed by the National Publicity Secretary, All Progressives Congress (APC), in Lagos on Tuesday, Feb. 3rd 2015.
Good afternoon gentlemen and welcome to this press conference.
During my last press conference on January 29th, I alerted the nation to the fact that the advocates of the postponement of this month's general elections have resorted to using the courts to disqualify our presidential candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, and scuttle the polls.
This followed the obvious failure of their clandestine campaign to have the elections postponed ostensibly because of the poor distribution of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) by the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC.
Despite sponsoring pseudo-experts and cash-and-carry analysts to make the television rounds to canvass for the postponement of the election, in addition to instigating protests against INEC, Nigerians have rejected the call for election shift, which is a big blow to those who want the elections postponed to give the Jonathan Administration time to recover lost ground.
The advocates of election shift may have retreated, but they have not given up their push to scuttle the elections. In fact, a conference organized on Monday to consider the effects of the National Conference on the 2015 elections was turned into a campaign for election postponement by the usual culprits.
The election-postponement campaigners have now returned to the drawing board to plot another move to make sure the elections do not hold, and that precisely is why we have called this press conference.
Despite their defeat in the court of public of opinion, the no-election proponents are now working hard on their back-up plan, which is to force a constitutional crisis that will ultimately lead to their goal: Interim Government!
And the courts and tribunals are the main tools to be used in pursuing this devilish plot.
They have restrategised to procure 'pliant judges' to give outrageous and unpopular judgement at election tribunals and courts, judgement that are capable of destabilising the polity
Their hope is that such outrageous and unpopular judgementwill help trigger massive violence across the country, which they will then leverage as an excuse to scuttle the elections and form an Interim Government.
At the last count, six cases have been filed by the agents of those working to scuttle the elections, and we expect more. In one of the cases, Justice Ademola of the Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday gave the order for a substituted service in the case instituted by Max Uzoaka against our candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari
Make no mistake about it, the Jonathan Administration and the PDP do not want elections, despite their deceitful statements that they are ready for the polls, and they will stop at nothing to ensure that the polls do not hold as scheduled, if at all.
This is why they have not been asking Nigerians to go and collect their PVCs, even when INEC has said the cards for all registered voters are now ready for collection, putting a lie to the campaign that the cards will not be ready before the elections.
That is why they have refused hordes of foreign journalists visas to come to Nigeria. As we said earlier, the denial of visas to foreign journalists is systemic, aimed at preventing the international community from seeing or watching the desperate plots to scuttle the elections. An Administration that has nothing to hide will not embark on a deliberate move to shut foreign journalists out of what is definitely one of the most important elections in the world this year.
In addition to using the courts, they have resorted to lobbying some members of the Council of State to support their clamourfor election postponement. We hope the Council, which is due to meet later in the week, will put national interest above narrow, partisan considerations and reject the poisoned chalice of election postponement.
Conclusion:
We call on local and international Observers to take note of the scheming by the election-postponement campaigners. This is because if they succeed, Observers will have no elections to observe. We urge them to note that since election is a process, and not restricted to election day alone, all the steps leading to the elections are as important as the actual voting.itself. Therefore, we implore them to take note of the systemic shutout of foreign journalists from the forthcoming polls, which is a ploy to shut out the international community from the elections..
We urge the Council of State not to allow itself to be used to scuttle the forthcoming elections, because it is in the interest of Nigeria and her people that the elections proceed as scheduled.
We call on Nigerians to remain vigilant, especially in the days ahead, and to continue to reject all attempts by anti-democratic forces to cling to or get power through means that are not democratic. We urge our members and supporters in particular to eschew violence under any guise, even in the face of the most egregious provocations, so as not to play into the hands of those working to scuttle the elections.
If the Jonathan Administration and the PDP are indeed committed to the Feb. 14th and 28th dates for the elections, as they have said, we challenge them to heed our call for a two-day public holiday so that working class Nigerians who have yet to collect their PVCs can do so. By the way, APC states will declare two public holidays for this purpose.
We will also like to repeat our appeal to the judiciary to act as a bulwark against any attempt to truncate our nation's hard-earned democracy by refusing to be used to scuttle the elections. We consider it an insult to the judiciary for the advocates of election shift to believe they can use their dirty funds to influence the course of justice. We believe the judiciary will not take this bait.
On our part, we will not relent in speaking out against ongoing efforts to scuttle the elections. The APC is ready for the elections as scheduled. The PDP and the Jonathan Administration should stop their scheming and get themselves ready for the elections too. Nigerians have seen through them, and have rejected their evil plots.
The elections dates of Feb. 14th and 28th are sacrosanct!
I thank you.
Alhaji Lai Mohammed
National Publicity Secretary
All Progressives Congress (APC)
Text of the APC Campaign Alert On Plot ByPresident Jonathan And The PDP To Re-enact The June 12 Scenario
The All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Organisation (APCPCO) has observed the gathering of individuals, better dubbed – Association of Jonathan-organisedNational Conference Attendees – with the sole objective of truncating the general elections, particularly the February 14 presidential poll, thus preventing an embarrassing shellacking for their benefactor, President Goodluck Jonathan.
The APCPCO said in a statement in Abuja on Tuesday signed by Garba Shehu, Director of Media and Publicity of the campaign that it is more galling that one of these people, with a history of armed insurrection by way of attempted military putsch against a united Nigeria, had the effrontery to offer admonition against the conduct of election, as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution as amended for the virility of the Nigerian state.
The APCPCO warned that it is possible for an undiscerning Nigerian to conflate the ostensible reasons of this group of unpatriotic zealots from their real motives.
"The ostensible reason of insecurity in some part of the country, though seemingly valid, pales into insignificance when put side by side with their real reasons. The fact of insecurity of lives and property, which has consigned a portion of the Nation state to a ragtag insurgency group, is in itself, a huge indictment of the government in failing in its primary responsibility as contemplated in Section 14 of 1999 Constitution as amended," Shehu said.
"Should a government that has shown such insouciance to the security and welfare of the people be compensated with longer duration than contemplated by the statute book? Of course, we are aware that these unpatriotic elements are doing this piece of execrable endeavor to rebuild their stomach infrastructure that had been pulled down after the cessation of free funding following the completion of the National conference!
"We have rightly observed that this is Nigeria’s season of anomie. All shades of ill-mannered and self-centered behavior can be seen in once respected people. It is our hope that Nigerians shall not be swayed into believing them on account of their previous service.
"We want to call the attention of Nigerians and the international community to the repeated calls for the postponement of the forthcoming presidential election. We do not have any difficulty to discern that these groups are working out the script of some agents in the ruling party. We also want to call on the security agencies in the country to stop any further public parade by this outlawed group.
"Let us remind Nigerians that the power of our democracy has been tested in the past by this outlawed group during the June 12, 1993 presidential election and our democracy won and will win again. No person or any faceless group of corrupt individuals can stop an idea which time has come. Nigerians made the call for a change in the country and the will of the people must prevail in February 14.
"We do not entertain any iota of doubts in our minds that this current attempt to scuttle democracy is because of the impending defeat starring the ruling party in the face. The same individuals who scuttled democracy through the instrumentality of the ABN (Association of Better Nigeria) are at their game again. They failed in the past and they will fail again.
"The All Progressive Congress Presidential Campaign Organisation had rejected and continues to reject any suggestion, proposals or insinuation to postpone the February 14 presidential election by a single day.
"Needless to say that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has shown its preparedness to conduct the February elections and very necessary for all Nigerian Patriots to rally behind the Electoral body in accomplishing the onerous task of delivering a good election!
"We hereby call on Nigerians to ignore the scare mongering of these elements and remain focused on the desired change that should see to the birth of a new Nation where no man is oppressed."
Signed:
Garba Shehu
Directorate of Media and Publicity
APC Presidential Campaign Organisation
Plot 781 Herbert Macaulay Way
Central Area
Abuja.
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