The candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, in the Abia North Senatorial election, Chief David Ogba Onuoha-Bourdex, has faulted the position of the PDP Governors’ Forum on the election petition tribunals.
In a statement he made available to DAILY POST on Thursday, Onuoha-Bourdex said “it is with great pain that we read the recent outrageous pronouncement by the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) Governors’ Forum on the involvement of the Department of State Security Services, (DSS) in election petitions.”
The statement read: “our immediate reaction to the obtuse position by the PDPGF was that perhaps the body merely wanted to draw attention to its existence and enjoy some media visibility as one of the pillars in the party’s opposition status.
“However, as an injured party protesting the high scale electoral heist and perfidy bordering on the Abia North Senatorial district election, we decided to put the PDPGF position in its correct perspective for public appreciation. We are mindful of the possibility of half-truths taking the posture of truth if not refuted.
“We recall our earlier intervention where we called on the PDP as a party to confess to Nigerians on the widespread political and economic corruption it wrought on Nigeria and Nigerians believing that that is the most credible path to contrition and search for the benevolent forgiveness of Nigerians.
“However, instead of eating the humble pie and showing remorse for its excesses including impunity and election rigging, PDP has continued to carry on as if its loss of respect of Nigerians and the 2015 general election was a mischance.
“The height of this nonchalance and unconscionable indifference is therefore the recent public statement by the PDPGF on the perceived involvement of the DSSS in election tribunals.
“It is a well-known fact that the guilty are always afraid, as such the sentiments expressed by the PDP governors represent their fear that through the involvement of DSS, the massive rigging and manipulation of election results would be unearthed.”
He added that “election rigging is a very fundamental threat to national security and stability, a secret police worth its salt should not fold its hands and stand aloof towards a potential threat to the country’s internal security. As such if the involvement of Nigeria’s secret police would help the country to find out how the expressed will of Nigerian voters were supplanted and subverted, why should PDP be apprehensive?
“We recall that in the past sixteen years, such clear violations of the civic rights of Nigerian citizens have always been swept under the carpet mainly because PDP controls the levers of the federal government. Their refrain is usually; let them go to court, knowing that they have the backing of the powers that be to suppress the facts.
“Now that another Pharoah, who does not know Joseph, has come on the throne, why should the new wine continue to be served in old wineskins? Perhaps PDP does not fully understand what the ruling All Progressive Congress, (APC) means by ‘Change’ or why Nigerians voted for a change in the way policies and programmes of government are implemented.
“We are currently at the Abia State National Assembly Election Petition Tribunal challenging the rigging of the Abia North Senatorial district election and our ears tingle each time a witness mounts the witness box to render a graphic account of how voters in the district were shortchanged by the defalcation and mutilation of the real election results.
“Based on our painful experience, especially the aggravated extra cost on our resources caused by this mindless rigging, we are inclined to condemn the call by the PDP governors and support the involvement of the DSS to ensure not only that the truth is unearthed but also that perpetrators of electoral offences and violence are brought to book.
“Similarly, we wish to call on the federal government to show favourable disposition to the possible appointment of Mrs. Amina Zakari as the substantive National Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC).
“In making this call, we are guided by our experience during the March 28, 2015, Abia North Senatorial election when the Resident Electoral Commissioner, (REC) for Abia State, Prof. Selina Okoh, promptly responded to a report of irregularities from the Returning Officer, (RO) to set up a review committee.
“Being a woman, we understand that the REC rebuffed dollar rated inducement from some highly placed and influential persons and insisted on finding out the true position of voting at the election. Consequently, given the ongoing climate of anti-corruption fight, it is our humble opinion that women appear less prone to corruption in sensitive positions than their male counterparts. Moreover, the time has come to mainstream women in the policy formulation and decision making facets of our national development.”
Commentaires