11th April, 2011
Members of the All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP) in Kogi state have threatened to boycott Saturday’s presidential election if the Federal Government and the Prof. Attahiru Jega-led Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) don’t address the irregularities that characterised last Saturday’s National Assembly (NASS) polls.
The aggrieved ANPP members, headed by former Governor of the state, Prince Abubakar Audu, said if by Thursday the issue is not addressed, none of their members will participate in the forthcoming presidential election.
According to Audu, who is also the party’s governorship candidate, the results of the NASS election is completely unacceptable to ANPP because it was embedded with fraud, which he described as a big shame to Nigeria’s nascent democracy.
The aggrieved Daudu reiterated that “we thought that with the promise of a new system, rigging will be reduced to the barest minimum, but unfortunately, it is worse.
“The election is not free, fair, credible and not transparent, and it is against the promise of the Federal Government. The election was characterised by ballot box snatching and INEC officials were held at gun point by PDP thugs. There were clear cases of irregularities.
“We therefore appeal to the Federal Government and the electoral body to do something, else we will not participate in the presidential election.”
Other candidates of the party that spoke with P.M.NEWS expressed their dissatisfaction about the elections. They also spoke on how their members were attacked and intimidated by PDP thugs and men of the Rapid Response Squad.
Also speaking with P.M.NEWS, the party’s state chairman, Alhaji Yahaya Farouk, explained that in some polling units, youth corps members were substituted with PDP members, who had time to rig massively.
Yahaya added that the party has lost confidence in Jega because collation of results was done at Local Government councils instead of INEC office.
“I called the Electoral Officer’s attention to this but nothing was done about it. Our position therefore is that all elections held on Saturday should be cancelled and those behind the irregularities be brought to book, if not we will boycott the forthcoming election,” Yahaya stated.
By Bayo Adetu/ Lokoja