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The Action Congress (AC) has described Saturday's fresh gubernatorial election in Kogi State as a tragedy, saying it has exposed Nigeria as a country that is unwilling to embrace an electoral system that will give credibility to elections and make the outcome acceptable to all.
The Action Congress (AC) has described Saturday's fresh gubernatorial election in Kogi State as a tragedy, saying it has exposed Nigeria as a country that is unwilling to embrace an electoral system that will give credibility to elections and make the outcome acceptable to all.
In a statement, issued in Abuja on Tuesday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the violence that greeted the polls, the hijacking of ballot boxes and the delay in the arrival of materials among other hitches were a replay of the deeply flawed April 14, 2007 elections.
Worse still, the party said, the security agencies working in tandem with INEC, engaged in scare tactics by declaring wanted key politicians on the eve of the elections and intimidating opposition just to skew the outcome of the polls.
AC said a TV footage of a policeman, who was almost lynched by an irate mob for allegedly snatching a ballot box during the Kogi elections was a reflection of the ignominious role of the security agencies that were massively deployed for the elections to ensure a pre-determined outcome.
The party also expressed concern at the effect of the relentless perpetuation of the culture of impunity during elections, especially as it concerns the widely-acknowledged efforts of the judiciary, through its fearlessness and fairness, to help restore confidence in the electoral process.
'The mantra of the desperate politicians of the PDP type seems to be simply this: 'Let the judiciary holler all it can, we will be back to doing what we know best how to do, which is to rig elections through violence and intimidation.
'And irrespective of the chest-beating by INEC and the pre-paid, self-styled analysts' commendation of the elections, we say that the conduct of the polls shows that as a nation, we have not learnt anything from the debacle of the last general elections.
'The outcome is also not much of a surprise, considering that INEC's Chairman Maurice Iwu, had said he would not do anything differently if given another chance.
'Therefore, it was generally expected he will work for a confirmation of the result of last year's ‘April fool's elections' - at least, in an attempt to hoodwink the people that the result of the first polls reflected the wishes of the people of Kogi,'' the party said.
AC warned that the current trend of messing up elections by desperate politicians and the INEC must be urgently addressed if the people are not to lose confidence in elections and, by extension, democracy.
It also cautioned INEC against any attempt to repeat last Saturday's disgraceful conduct in Kogi at the forthcoming governorship election re-run in Adamawa, saying the people are strongly determined to defend their votes against snatchers and riggers.
'Overall, we lay the blame for Kogi's messed-up polls squarely on the shoulders of the Federal Government, which has bluntly rejected all entreaties to re-organise INEC before allowing it to conduct fresh elections. We warn that those who nurture monsters may be consumed by them,'' AC added.