Jonathan still plotting to shift elections, APC insists

The Goodluck Jonathan administration and the Peoples Democratic Party are still plotting to postpone the general election and install an interim government, the All Progressives Congress (APC) is insisting.

At a press conference on Monday, the party accused Jonathan and PDP of working in clandestine and whipping up excuses to postpone the elections.

The APC, which declared that organising the elections remained sacrosanct, urged the government not to plunge the country into a constitutional crisis that the shifting of the elections would cause.

“You will recall that in our press statement of January 22, 2015, our party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), strongly rejected the call by the national security adviser, Sambo Dasuki, for the postponement of next month’s general election, ostensibly to give more time to INEC to distribute the permanent voter cards (PVCs),” Lai Mohammed, national publicity secretary of the party, said.

“In spite of this, we have noted with dismay that the Jonathan administration has continued to pursue the plot to shift the elections. That plot in itself is one of the two-pronged approach being pursued by the administration to either shift or scuttle the elections, which are scheduled for February 14 and 28.

“The other is the campaign for an interim government. It is important to state here that for the APC as a party, both options represent the Devil’s alternative (apologies to British writer Frederick Forsyth, who has a book by the same title), and are totally, absolutely unacceptable to us under any circumstance.

“When President Goodluck Jonathan met with US Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday here in Lagos, the president said he told the visiting US top diplomat that ‘the May 29 handover date is sacrosanct’. We say this is not reassuring enough, and that for us, the February 14 and 28 dates for the elections are as sacrosanct as the handover date of May 29.

“Therefore, we are more assured by the call made by Kerry, that the elections should be held on time as scheduled. Nothing short of that will be acceptable to our party.

“We are also satisfied with the assurance by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that it is ready for the elections. The electoral body has also said it will continue with PVC distribution until the eve of the elections. Therefore, the orchestrated campaign about INEC not being ready for the elections is sheer baloney.

“Now, make no mistakes about it, we are aware of the limitless capacity of the PDP and the Jonathan administration for anti-democratic and desperate actions in pursuit of selfish motives that have nothing to do with the interest of the good people of Nigeria. We are aware of the clandestine moves, including reaching out to various interest groups and hiring talking heads to make the television rounds, being made by the administration to get the elections shifted.”

APC also claimed that the general election terrifies the president and his party, hence their continued attempts to scuttle it.

“The Jonathan administration’s apologists are hiding under the facade that millions of Nigerians will be disenfranchised if the elections should proceed as scheduled. Again, they are using the terrorist attacks in some parts of the north to advance their election shift argument.

“We sincerely hope the recent escalation of the Boko Haram attacks, and the siege on Maiduguri on Sunday, a day after President Jonathan campaigned in the city, are not connected to this sophistry. All in all, these arguments in support of election postponement are a smokescreen. The truth is that the forthcoming elections terrify the PDP and the Jonathan administration to such an extent that they are looking for ways to postpone or scuttle the polls.”

It further urged the government to declare a three-day holiday for working Nigerians to collect their PVCs.

“If indeed the Jonathan administration is genuinely concerned that many Nigerians have not received their PVCs, let it declare a three-day public holiday to give working Nigerians the opportunity to collect their PVCs. Let the government work with INEC to ensure that the PVCs are distributed at the polling units. If these steps are followed, within five days, the distribution would have been completed,” APC added.

“In conclusion, gentlemen, let me summarise the stand of our party, the APC, regarding next month’s general election:

“APC is ready for the elections, and under no circumstance will we accept a postponement. For us, February 14 and 28 are as sacrosanct as May 29th, the handover date. The government has had four years to prepare, and the dates for the elections were announced over a year ago, therefore there is no going back now.

“We note that the PDP has also said it is ready for the polls. That is good news. Let them now end their clandestine push for either postponement or the formation of an interim government, stop engaging in scare and scandal mongering and dwell on issues, ahead of the polls.

“We are satisfied with the assurances by INEC that it is ready for the polls, and we call on the Jonathan Administration to give the electoral body all the support and resources it requires to organize successful elections.

“Any postponement of the election will mean that INEC is not independent and that it is being dictated to by the Federal Government, a position that will hurt the credibility of the electoral umpire.

“Finally, any postponement on the basis of the insurgency in the north-east will represent a victory for the terrorist group Boko Haram, and will create a constitutional logjam that will take Nigeria back to 1993. Believe me, we have travelled that route before and it was not pleasant.”