Mimiko
Thirteen governors of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, on Wednesday night, rose from a meeting in Abuja, where they restated the need for the country to have a strong opposition.
Speaking on behalf of his colleagues, Chairman of the PDP Governors Forum, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State, revealed that they were worried with the activities of men of the Department of State Security, DSS, which, he said were aimed at stifling the opposition.
The governors, whose political party ruled the country for 16 years before suffering defeat in the hands of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the last general elections, consequently called on DSS operatives to stop disturbing members of their party.
Mimiko decried the alleged meddlesome disposition of the security agency in electoral maters, which he said were capable of affecting the fortunes of the PDP at election petition tribunals, as worrisome and unacceptable.
Reading from the communique issued after the meeting, he said, “The forum condemns in very strong terms the alleged worrisome meddlesomeness of the Department of State Services in Election Tribunal matters, especially in Akwa Ibom, Rivers and Abia States.
“It is against the spirit, ethos, values and fundamental tenets of democratic norms and tradition; more so with the existence of the Electoral Act and the Constitution.
“The forum is worried, alarmed and shocked by this development. A situation where officials of Independent National Electoral Commission in these three States, (all PDP States) are daily being arrested, detained and questioned on election-related offences, even when the cases are on-going at the tribunals, spells doom and poses imminent danger to our fledgling democracy,” he stated.
The governor, who alleged that the interference was an attempt to stifle the opposition and that the action was most unacceptable, said: “We insist that the trend be reversed. No democracy survives without a viable opposition in any part of the world”.
Mimiko stressed that INEC was supposed to be an independent commission and that its officials ought to be shielded from partisanship, especially at a time when the dust raised by the alleged APC membership of the DG of the DSS, Mr. Lawal Musa Daura, had not settled.
He claimed that there were clear cases of under-aged voters in some states and expressed worry that the DSS did not investigate a single person or make any arrest in those states. The governor added that “even in a clear case where money paid was traced to the bank account of a state Resident Electoral Commissioner, the DSS is yet to order investigation into the matter”.
He went on to advise the DSS to pre-occupy itself with the task of ensuring internal security and not involve itself in electoral matters.
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