The Secretary of the Media and Publicity Committee of the APC 2019 Kogi State Governorship Campaign Council, Dr Tom Ohikere has accused the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) of making ridiculous claim to discredit the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the process leading to the election.
Ohikere made this claim in response to a statement by the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Mr Kola Ologbondiyan, in which he accused the INEC of collaborating with the APC to tamper with the report of their governorship primary and make Governor Yahaya Bello the sole candidate in the election as well as arrest key PDP leaders in the state.
Ohikere made this known when he spoke with some journalists at the APC National Secretariat I Abuja, he stated that such claim was not the first of its kind and a show of the palpable prospect of their imminent defeat.
He said “You can see that they have come up with new allegation just to undermine the electoral process. I have said it before they are jittery and pulling on straws. How can INEC, an independent body collaborate with APC to sideline them. This is nothing but false alarm intended to elicit sympathy for their cause which is generally lacking among the voters.
“They have been rejected again, 2019 is not their time, they should go back to the drawing board perhaps another time, not now.”
“How can they say the APC is planning to arrest key stakeholders in their party? Is APC the Nigerian Police. Is APC an institution of law enforcement? Kogi state is in democracy and the APC government is law abiding. Perhaps they are haunted by their past, they think we will act the same way but they are wrong.”
“We know their tactics and we would not fall for it. They know it is a lost cause, so they are making frantic and futile efforts to discredit the process. We were all at the INEC stakeholders round table the chairman gave us their word. So what is all this, if not a show of fear and lack of trust in the electoral and democratic process.”
Ohikere further urged the PDP to desist from such false alarm has it has yhe potential to inflame the situation on ground which may affect the entire process.
“The PDP must act as the democratic party they claim to be. This is not the first time INEC will be conducting election in Kogi state. Such utterances and statements are inimical to a smooth electoral process. So they should emulate the way in which the APC has been conducting themselves so far, moderating their utterance. Good sportsmanship is a democratic norm, INEC is and will be impartial umpire.”
