FG has turned Ekiti into war zone –APC

Chief John Oyegun

The All Progressives Congress has accused the Federal Government of turning Ekiti State into a war zone where constitutional guaranteed rights have been suspended.

The APC accused the Federal Government of over-militarisation of Ekiti State ahead of Saturday’s election.

The party said the Federal Government had overreached itself and engaged in series of arbitrariness and unconstitutional acts that threaten the very fabric of the nation’s democracy.

The APC National Chairman, Chief John Oyegun, spoke on Friday while addressing a world press conference in Lagos.

Oyegun expressed doubt over the ability of the Jonathan-led Federal Government to conduct a free, fair, credible and transparent election in Ekiti.

He particularly flayed the alleged prevention of APC governors and supporters by security agencies from entering the state for the party’s rally on Thursday.

The APC chairman said the party was concerned that the “PDP-led Federal Government has grown so desperate to capture Ekiti State at all cost that it is willing to do anything, and I mean anything, to scuttle the electoral process and even threaten the very survival of our country.”

Oyegun said, “Less than 48 hours after I released an open letter to President Goodluck Jonathan, warning him to halt the impunity in Ekiti and not to plunge Nigeria into a political crisis, the Federal Government has now overreached itself and turned Ekiti into a war zone where constitutional guaranteed rights have been suspended.

“The final electioneering campaign of our candidate in the Ekiti election, Governor Kayode Fayemi, provided the perfect setting for the Jonathan-led administration to bare its fangs with a series of arbitrariness and unconstitutional acts that threaten the very fabric of our democracy.

“First, several APC governors were prevented from attending the rally. The helicopter that was to ferry Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State from Benin to Akure was denied permission to take off by the aviation authorities apparently acting on ‘orders from above.’

“Then while the plane bearing Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State, who is also the Chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum, was allowed to land at the Akure Airport, his convoy was stopped by soldiers at the border of Ondo and Ekiti state, and ordered to return to Akure by the leader of the troops, an army captain who said he was under orders not to allow him into Ado Ekiti and threatened to shoot him if he defied his orders.

“In view of this, we have resolved to alert all Nigerians to the antics of the Federal Government in witch-hunting the opposition through an egregious abuse of power as well as abuse of national institutions.

“We urge all the good people of our dear nation to speak out against these unprecedented acts of desperation and impunity. Never in the history of our democracy has a sitting governor been so shabbily treated as was meted out to Amaechi on Thursday. Not even in the days of the abhorrent military rule was such brazen abuse of national institutions committed by the Federal Government.

“We call on our international partners to condemn this growing impunity by the ruling party and the government it controls at the centre. Actions have consequences, and whoever fails to condemn the acts of impunity being perpetrated by the central government will not have the moral right to condemn the reactions that such actions may elicit.

“We state clearly that our party will not accept the outcome of any election in Ekiti State that does not comply with the best practices.”

Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party has said the stopping of governors elected on the platform of the APC from attending the Thursday final rally of Governor Kayode Fayemi was part of security measures put in place to have a hitch-free election.