PEOPLES Democratic Presidential Campaign
Organisation, PDPPCO said yesterday that President Goodluck Jonathan was still
committed to conducting free, fair and credible election today.
According to PDP, the opposition
should count itself lucky that President Jonathan did not reject the outcome of
March 28 presidential election and refused to go to court and challenge the
results.
In a statement yesterday by the
Director of Media and Publicy, PDPPCO, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode said, “They
should thank their lucky stars that we have a President who saw fit to concede
victory and behave like a gentleman rather than cause a stir by rejecting the
results and going to court.”
Fani-Kayode described allegations by
the All Progressive Congress (APC) that President Jonathan planned to rig
today’s governorship election in Lagos in favour of the candidate of the PDP,
Mr Jimi Agbaje were far from the truth.
According to Fani- Kayode, the APC
in panic mode because it knows that Agbaje will win the election, adding that
this was the first time in 16 years that the APC together with the opposition
was facing a formidable challenge from a governorship candidate of the PDP, Mr
Agbaje.
Fani- Kayode said, “Once again the
APC has degenerated into a party of liars who have little or no shame. It is
not true that the President has any rigging plan for Lagos and neither do we
need any such plan because our party is very strong there.
“The problem that the APC has and
the reason that they make such asinine and stupid allegations is because they
actually believe that they own Lagos state and all those that live there.
“They are now in a state of panic
because for the first time in 16 years they are facing a formidable challenge
and they know that Jimi Agbaje of the PDP is likely to win. The truth is that
there was no secret meeting in which rigging was planned by the President and
neither is it true that materials were smuggled in to rig Lagos state.
“The only people that are interested
in rigging and in milking any cash cows are the APC themselves and they can
rest assured that we will resist them at all levels. We will not only keep them
on their toes at the Federal level by being eternally vigilant but we will also
provide them with the most aggressive, relentless, focused and assertive
opposition that Nigeria has ever known.
“President Jonathan simply conceded
defeat in the Presidential election but this does not in any way mean that we
have lost our nerve and neither does it represent a capitulation of our
convictions or a collapse of our firm resolve.
“We shall continue to assist in
moving this great country forward and to contribute to public discourse and
national affairs.
“Jonathan conceded defeat and
congratulated General Buhari even though there were many question marks about
the card readers, the role of INEC and the so-called votes that APC allegedly
won in Kano, Katsina, Jigawa, Kaduna and in one or two others places in the
north.
“The figures for the APC were
inflated in those states whilst the votes that Jonathan scored were purposely
suppressed and reduced in places like Abia and other parts of the east by INEC.
This is the bitter truth even though many people are reluctant to say it or
admit it.
“Till today, many of us are
wondering what really happened to the INEC commissioner in Kano and whether it
is true that he and his whole family were murdered after he privately expressed
his misgivings and regrets about inflating the figures for the APC during the
presidential elections.
“Rather than spitting in Jonathan’s face
and rejecting his friendly handshake by accusing him of plotting to rig Lagos,
the APC should keep their mouths shut and bury their heads in shame for what
they and their friends in INEC did during the presidential election.
“President Jonathan chose that
course and opted for a peaceful resolution only out of concern for the
stability of our country and for the sake of the welfare and peace of Nigeria.
“If he had done anything else or if
he had protested the results of the election many innocent people, including
our members and supporters, would have been slaughtered like flies all over the
north and everyone knows this.
“Despite our peaceful and law-abiding disposition the APC should not mistake
our gentility, our willingness to overlook their criminal behavior and our
readiness to let bygones be bygones as weakness.
“The truth is that even with all the
rigging that they did in the presidential elections they only defeated us by 2
million votes. Their candidate got 14 million votes whilst ours got 12 million.
“The more the APC makes baseless and
absurd allegations against our President and our party, the more we shall
question their so-called victory at the presidential election and expose the
truth. They should enjoy their so-called victory at the federal level quietly
and stop attempting to intimidate us, disturb our peace or label us as a party
of riggers.
“They have also accused us of using
ethnicity and religion in politics. This is absolute rubbish and it is a lie
from the pit of hell. With what the Oba of Lagos said a few days ago we know
which party is led by the ethnic and religious bigots in Nigerian politics and
that party is not the PDP. It is the leadership of the APC and not the PDP that
used religion and is still using religion in a shameful and provocative manner
to garner votes and to win popular support in this country regardless of the
dangerous consequences of doing so.
“We reject their sordid allegations
and claims and we look forward to winning convincingly in Lagos, Rivers, Delta,
Taraba and many other states in the April 11th elections.
“Whether anyone likes it or not the
PDP is here to stay. Our heads may have been bloodied but they are not bowed.
We shall continue to make our contributions to national discourse, we shall continue
to engage our adversaries in the political space and we shall continue to fight
our corner come what may.”
Credit: Vanguard
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