A former Governor of Lagos State,
Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, says soldiers
have placed him under surveillance
for the past three days.
Tinubu, in a statement on Tuesday
by his Media Office, claimed that
the soldiers numbering 30 were
first noticed in a truck close to his
Ikoyi, Lagos residence around 11pm
on Sunday.
A soldier, Capt. Sagir Kooli, who
exposed the alleged rigging of the
June 2014 Ekiti State governorship
election, had in a video which
went viral last week said that
Tinubu’s telephone was bugged by
the Department of State Services.
The former governor said in the
statement that the soldiers were
initially stationed about 500 metres
from the gate of his house before
they moved closer.
Tinubu explained that on Monday
night , the soldiers returned in
two vans and stayed throughout
the night.
He claimed that some of them
alighted from the vans and walked
back and forth in front of the house.
The APC leader,who alleged that
the vans were stationed on both
sides of the house on Tuesday
morning, vowed not to be
intimidated by the government.
He said, “I remain resolute in my
advocacy and support for the rule of
law. President Goodluck Jonathan’s
government has through the
service chiefs staged a coup against
Nigerians and the 1999 Constitution
and now wants to silence his critics.
I will not be muzzled through the
barrel of the gun.
“The guns and bullets they should
use to defeat Boko Haram are now
being turned against the
opposition and innocent
Nigerians.”
Tinubu advised Jonathan not to
take Nigeria back to the days that
followed the annulment of the June
12, 1993 election and urged the
Yoruba to hold Jonathan
responsible should anything
happen to him.
He said, “As the scaremongering by
the army continues, Nigerians must
come to the realisation that the
military has abandoned its
statutory role and have now being
dragged into partisan politics.
“Nigerians and the South-West
should hold the Jonathan-led
military responsible if any harm or
danger comes to Tinubu and his
family. The case of the Unknown
soldier is too recent in our
memory.”
In a separate statement, the Lagos
State chapter of the APC described
the development as unfortunate
and an evidence that Jonathan was
abusing the military.
The statement by the state
Publicity Secretary of the party,
Joe Igbokwe, noted that soldiers
were used in harassing and
arresting leaders of the APC in Ekiti
State during the governorship
elections.
It described the abuse of soldiers as
‘‘an act of desperation being
perpetuated by a dying regime.’’
The party said while Chad and Niger
Republic were deploying soldiers
to fight Boko Haram, the Federal
Government was using soldiers to
intimidate the opposition.
The statement read in part, “We
see the attempt to intimidate and
harass Tinubu as one of the
desperate efforts by a dying regime
to arrest the forces of history and
warn that the PDP and the Jonathan
presidency are struggling in vain
for nothing will save them from
being thrown to the dumpsite of
history.
“A nation that is being assailed with
the sordid details of the misuse of
the army to rig elections for the
PDP in Ekiti is today being treated
with the scenario of using the same
army to intimidate opposition
forces so as to procure another
extension for a failed regime that
ranks not only as the most corrupt
but the most clueless and
incompetent in the history of the
country.
“It is a pity that when poor
countries like Niger and Chad are
sending troops to fight insurgents
in Nigeria, our own troops are
being deployed to fight the
opposition and intimidate the
nation for the sole purpose of
forcing through the dead ambition
for continuation by a failed and
bankrupt regime.”
However, the Deputy Director of
Information, Nigerian Army 81
Division, Col. Mustapha Anka,
denied that soldiers were
deployed to monitor Tinubu.
Don’t play politics with
insecurity, EU tells FG
The European Union Election
Observation Mission has however
cautioned the Federal Government
against playing politics with
insecurity in the country.
The mission which expressed
concern over the postponement of
the general elections, challenged
the security agencies to support
the Independent National Electoral
Commission in the conduct of the
general elections on March 28 and
April 11.
The EUEOM Chief Observer, Santiago
Fisas, in a statement in Abuja on
Tuesday, acknowledged the
different views by stakeholders on
the postponement of the
elections.
He said, “We are seriously
concerned at this delay and the
reason given. Security is critical but
must not be political. People have
to be able to vote, elections have
to be held so that government is
accountable. We look to the
security agencies to give full
support to INEC and all the people
of Nigeria in the holding of polls
on March 28 and April 11.”
While commending the peaceful
reactions by stakeholders to the
polls’ postponement, Fisas said that
the EU would continue to monitor
the electoral process in Nigeria.
He encouraged all the political
parties, their candidates and other
stakeholders to consider the extra
time as an opportunity to prepare
better for the elections.
“The EU EOM commends the
peaceful reaction so far to the
postponement and will continue
observing the electoral process. We
encourage all political parties,
candidates, supporters and other
stakeholders to consider the extra
time as an opportunity to further
prepare for the election days. More
voters can collect their Permanent
Voter Cards, candidates can
elaborate on their proposed
policies,” the Chief Observer said.
Fisas emphasised that for citizens
to have confidence in the electoral
process, the elections should not
be further delayed.
“We will be here in different parts
of the country observing the next
crucial weeks in the run-up to the
election and beyond,” he promised.
UN seeks restraint from
politicians
The United Nations also advised
politicians to continue to exercise
restraint and keep the electoral
process clean ahead of the polls.
Its Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon,
said the global body was happy
that the delay in the conduct of the
elections had been accepted by the
stakeholders.
Ban’s Special Representative,
Mohammed Ibn Chambas, disclosed
this to State House correspondents
shortly after a closed-door meeting
he had with President Goodluck
Jonathan in Abuja on Tuesday.
“In short, the message is that we
appreciate the pure manner in
which the electoral process is
proceeding, the Secretary-General
commends the President and other
political leaders to continue on that
parth,” he added.
Chambas, a former President of
the Economic Community of West
African States Commission, said his
visit was a follow-up to telephone
conversations the UN boss had with
the President and the presidential
candidate of the All Progressives
Congress, Muhammadu Buhari, last
week.
He added that the UN believed that
the delay would provide an
opportunity for more Nigerians to
collect their PVCs .
The Special Representative said,
“The Secretary-General told me to
commend Mr. President and other
leaders of the political parties and
Nigerians as a whole for the
maturity that has been
demonstrated so far in this whole
preparation towards the general
elections that are now scheduled
for later in March.
“We saw first of all the primaries;
there were a lot of speculations
about how they will go and they
transpired in a very calm and
peaceful manner.
“The campaigns started, and again
Nigerians have demonstrated a lot
of maturity in the general manner
in which the campaigns have taken
place.
“Naturally in periods such as this,
there will be heightened tension,
heightened rhetoric, but on the
whole, we have very little violence
associated with this process.
“And this is the same also with the
postponement where there were a
lot of speculations about what will
happen but so far this process has
been proceeding in a calm,
peaceful and credible manner.
“This is the wish certainly of the UN
and also many friends of Nigeria. It
is our expectations that all will
continue to exercise retraint and
keep this process clean. And that at
the end of the day Nigerians will all
accept the outcome of the vote of
the people.”
by ROTMANLUV 2023-07-08, 17:34
