Alleged attack on Tribunal Secretary: SDP’s utterances betrays suspicious knowledge of incident – APC NWC

The National Working Committee (NWC) of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has said the Social Democratic Party has a lot of explaining to do as regards the purported attack on the Secretary of the Election Tribunal in Kogi State, which was said to have occurred in “spurious circumstances”. Addressing a press conference at the APC […]

The National Working Committee (NWC) of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has said the Social Democratic Party has a lot of explaining to do as regards the purported attack on the Secretary of the Election Tribunal in Kogi State, which was said to have occurred in “spurious circumstances”.

Addressing a press conference at the APC National Secretariat in Abuja, on Thursday, the National Publicity Secretary of the party, Felix Morka, said SDP’s utterances and actions, prior to, and since the purported occurrence, betrayed “suspicious special knowledge of the incident” and called on security agencies to do a thorough investigation into the alleged incident.

The party condemned, as dangerous, the incendiary rhetoric of opposition figures in Kogi State who continued to inflame passion and incite strife, noting that “their actions and utterances provide a charged atmosphere for escalation of violence in the state.”

It said rather than carry out comprehensive evaluation of the reasons they were rejected at the polls, the SDP and PDP had continued to peddle falsehood and promote ethnic and social unrest in the state.

It noted that Ajaka made a U-turn, having initially said he would not contest the outcome of the election, and then decided to bring a petition before the tribunal even though “it appears that he is out time to validly do so.”

The APC said, “On his part, the candidate of the SDP, Murtala Ajaka, stated, on national television, that he will not challenge the election, for reasons similar to that advanced by his opposition counterpart, Dino, that has no confidence in the judiciary, especially as INEC will be a potential witness in the case to justify the outcome of the election.

“In a sudden u-turn, Ajaka, is now reported to have changed his mind and now intends to bring a petition before the Election Petition Tribunal, even though, it appears that he is out time to validly do so. However, we will leave that for determination by the courts.”

The party noted that the SDP and the People’s Democratic Party had been severally conflicted between accepting or challenging the result of the election.

“We participated in the Kogi election, our candidate campaigned widely and vigorously to win the hearts and minds of the good Kogi electorate. He built upon the strong record of achievement of Governor Yahaya Bello’s administration and our Party’s progressive manifesto,” APC stressed.

The NPS said aside from Dino having no confidence in the judiciary as he said publicly, “it is worth noting, that Mr. Melaye did not also have the confidence to vote for himself during an election in which he was candidate of a major opposition party. So we must accept that Dino is very equitable in his ‘lack of confidence’, and, indeed, lacking confidence in himself.

“This lack of confidence in himself also explains his loud but empty call for opposition parties to boycott future elections, in his twisted thinking, so APC may appear to have enacted a one party state. The fact remains that Dino did not go to court because he has absolutely nothing to stand on by way of evidence, other than his vituperations in the media space.

“Dino should know that participating in an election is a democratic right. Boycotting an election is also a democratic right. Dino is free to choose his democratic right but we hope he chooses wisely.

“That he chose not to vote for himself in the Kogi gubernatorial election did not stop the election process from going ahead in accordance with the Constitution. He cannot stop our democratic train from leaving the station or going on course of its journey to consolidation. He cannot hold back participation by the wonderful people of Kogi state by his infantile outbursts and irrational and vain charges against the APC, INEC and our judiciary.”