APC: We’ll form parallel govt ‘if polls are rigged’

The All Progressives Congress (APC) says it will form a parallel government if next year’s elections are rigged by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Speaking on Friday through Lai Mohammed, its national publicity secretary, the party emphasised that the statement of Rotimi Amaechi at the APC Salvation Rally in Abuja on Wednesday about rejecting the outcome of the 2015 elections and forming a parallel government if the elections are rigged, was the position of the party.

“Those who are fretting about this statement are those who are planning to rig the elections and they should be warned that Nigerians will no longer accept the outcome of any fraudulent polls. Those who incite the people are those who steal their mandate,” it said.

“What we made is a conditional statement. If A happens, then B will follow. That means if elections are not rigged, there will be no problem. It is therefore laughable that anyone will call that statement treasonable,” it said, adding that “there is no higher treason than the subversion of the people’s will”.

According to APC, it is common knowledge that anywhere in the world where elections were rigged, the consequences were dire, and Nigeria would not be an exception.

“Let us remind the presidency, in case it has forgotten, that election fraud triggered a civil war in Algeria in the early 1990s, led to the killing of over 1,000 people in post-election riots in Kenya in 2007/2008 and fired a near-revolution in Iran in 2009/2010. Electoral frauds also corrupt democracy and breed dictatorship, and risk making the people to lose confidence in democracy. Why then would any government react violently if warned against election rigging?” the party queried.

“Instead of issuing threats and engaging in name-calling, the presidency should simply brace up to ensure that the forthcoming elections are not only free, fair and credible, but are seen to be so by Nigerians and the international community.”

APC said it was necessary to constantly warn the PDP and the federal government not to tamper with the 2015 polls “because of their penchant for electoral desperation, which manifests in the intimidation of the opposition and the militarisation of election, disposition to anarchy and propensity for impunity”.

The party alleged that the process leading to the 2015 polls were already flawed, “with moves to disenfranchise millions of Nigerians by making it impossible for them to either register or get their permanent voters cards and the plot to depopulate the strongholds of the opposition”.

“PDP and the governments it sired, especially at the centre, are lawless and anarchic. That is why they can unleash the police against federal legislators in an attempt to force the removal of the speaker of the house of representatives. That is why a state under the control of the PDP will use seven lawmakers to remove the speaker in a 26-member house of assembly.

“Because it is said that eternal vigilance is the price of freedom, we will constantly warn the PDP and the federal government not to tamper with the 2015 elections. We will constantly chide them for trying to institutionalise impunity. We cannot and will not be intimidated by an uptight presidency.

“The PDP and the Jonathan administration are the masters of impunity, and they will not hesitate to exploit any sign of docility in the face of their evil intentions on the part of the opposition. The lessons are there: Had the members of the house of representatives been docile on Thursday when remote-controlled security agents invaded their premises and barred them from entering, Tambuwal would have ceased to be the speaker by now.

“For us, the gloves are off. We will no longer engage in any nicety as long as some people are bent on thwarting the will of the people through electoral fraud. All we are demanding is a free, fair and credible election. All we are saying is that no one should incite the people by stealing their mandate. How these demands can be construed to mean treason is as baffling as the do-or-die disposition of the ruling PDP to elections.”