25th October, 2011
The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has accused the PDP-led federal government of using the security agencies to subvert democracy in Lagos State, saying the federal government must be held responsible for the pre-meditated crisis trailing the just-concluded local government elections in the state.
In a statement issued in Lagos on Tuesday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said it is obvious that the highest echelons of the presidency and the police colluded to destabilize what was ordinarily a peaceful and well-organised election, just to serve the anti-democratic interests of the PDP in the state.
‘’Efforts were made to drag other security agencies into the mix in a desperate attempt to concoct an undeserved victory for a party that is almost non-existent in Lagos State, but the power of the people, exercised through their votes, won the day, to the chagrin of the anarchists, who are now crying blue murder,’’ it said.
ACN wondered why the police would give a special protection to someone who was not even a candidate in the elections, and the government would attempt to contract a mercenary group in the SSS outside the established authority of the agency just to give victory to a supposedly strong PDP candidate at all cost.
‘’The meddlesome action of the presidency and the irresponsible and gross partisanship of the police, led to the situation in which hired PDP thugs occupied the Secretariat of the Ikoyi/Obalende council and declared victory for the PDP, even when the result was yet to be announced.
‘’The ignominious role of the security agencies emboldened the PDP thugs to chase away officials of LASIEC, who had to relocate to a safer place to collate and announce the result. The questions to be asked therefore are: What is the business of the federal government with local government elections?
‘’Why was it so desperate as to enlist the support of the Inspector-General of Police and a mercenary group in the SSS to subvert the elections in Lagos? Does this not constitute an abuse of federalism? If the elections had been held in a non-ACN state, would the police have given a special protection to anyone who is not a candidate as it did for a stalwart of the PDP in Lagos State?’’
It said the developments in Lagos over the weekend have strengthened the call for a state police, in line with true federalism.
ACN said the well-worn argument, that state police will be subject to abuse, has been debunked by the role of the police in the Lagos State council polls, adding: ‘’The federal government is daily abusing its hold on the federal police, as it were, and things could only get better with a state police.’’
Meanwhile, the party has described the criticism of the Lagos State council polls by PDP National Publicity Secretary Rufai Alkali as disingenuous, poorly thought out and badly articulated.
‘’Is Prof. Alkali, by his resort to the use of tired cliches of ‘massive rigging and manipulation of figures’ mistaking the ACN for the
PDP, a party synonymous with electoral malfeasance? Is the Professor justifying the misuse of public funds in deploying police
personnel from Abuja to ‘protect’ a non-candidate in the elections? Can any other party apart from the PDP sponsor thugs to take over a council secretariat in any state and chase away electoral officials, even as the police fails to act?’’ ACN queried.
It said the reaction of the PDP amounts to sheer hypocrisy, which is the same reason that Nigeria is unravelling before their (PDP) very eyes.
‘’The superficial characterisation of the situation in Lagos State during the polls is a further testimony to the quagmire in which the PDP has found itself in seeking to administer a country like Nigeria. This party is incompetent in everything except in subverting democracy. Everywhere there is an electoral shenanigan, the PDP is behind it. The party talks about law and order but destabilises the component states. With nothing reasonable to say, the PDP should have kept quiet instead of exposing its folly,’’ ACN said.