ACN Asks Nigerian Top Cop To Resign
The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has asked the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Hafiz Ringim to resign before next month’s general elections, having shown that he cannot lead the police to be non-partisan at this critical stage in the election process.
In a statement issued in Ilorin, Kwara state, on Friday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party also accused the police boss of blatantly disregarding court orders, a dangerous trend for a top law enforcement officer and an invitation to anarchy.
It said the IGP exhibited gross partisanship in handling the pre-election violence in Akwa Ibom, hence cannot be trusted to lead his men to be neutral and fair during the polls.
”The IGP is a major player in the collusion between the Akwa Ibom state government and the police to put away our gubernatorial candidate in the state, Senator John James Udoedehe, on flimsy and politically-motivated charges before the election, to give easy and undeserved victory to Gov. Godswill Akpabio, who knows he cannot win a free and fair election in the state.
”The IGP invited our candidate, Senator Udoedehe, to his office, only for him to detain the candidate and charge him to court for treasonable felony, despite a subsisting court order not only that Senator Udoedehe should not be arrested but that the police should give him protection from now till end of the elections.
“The IGP, who was duly served with the orders of the court, willfully disregarded it, just to please his pay masters. Instead he made a villain out of a victim. Where is the fairness in that, when Senator Udoedehe is the victim in the government-instigated violence? This is the way
and manner the police under IGP Ringim have been behaving in the run-up to the elections.
“We are therefore left with no choice than to ask the IGP to step down, unless of course he wants to confirm the rumour that he was appointed specifically to work for a PDP victory at the polls.
”In the event that he fails to heed our call to resign, we call on the international election monitors now converging on the country to note the highly-partisan role of the police under him. Afterall, election is a process while the voting day is just a part of the process,” ACN said.
The party also demanded the immediate release of Senator Udoedehe and an end to the intimidation of all ACN candidates and supporters in Akwa Ibom, in the interest of peace and tranquility.
It expressed shock that the State Security Service (SSS) has joined the police in their acts of intimidation of the opposition, wondering why they will invite for questioning the attorney for Senator Udoedehe simply because he appeared on TV to explain what happened in the Akwa Ibom crisis.
”The arrest of Senator Udoedehe is only the latest in a series of acts designed by the state government, acting in concert with the police, to put him away before the elections, just because of his immense popularity and acceptability by the people. The government has persistently used state machinery to suppress and persecute him. After they failed in their attempt to frame him for murder, they instigated this violence as a last resort.
”We have it on good authority that the government has compiled the list of all ACN leaders in the 31 local government areas of Akwa Ibom, which has been handed over to the state police commissioner – a close associate and crony of the governor. This is disturbing and unacceptable. The PDP cannot because of one election destroy Nigeria, considering that government-concocted violence
against the opposition is also pervasive in Kwara, Benue, Taraba and several other states.,” it said
ACN said the much ballyhooed promise of a free and fair elections by President Jonathan is looking and more like a mirage, against a backdrop of unbridled violence being perpetrated by his party and the partisanship of the security agencies, especially the police.
Comments