EkitiGate tape: APC carpets military, FG

The National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Alhaji Lai Mohammed has insisted that the federal government and the Nigerian military played keys roles in the rigging of Ekiti guber election in favour of Ayo Fayose of the Peoples Democratic Party.

Mohammed was reacting to the recently-released secretly-recorded audio tape of an alleged meeting in Ado-Ekiti between some officials of the PDP and some military personnel, where the deal was sealed in favour of Fayose.

Speaking during a press conference in Lagos on Wednesday, the party chieftain expressed disappointment that the army could stoop that low and allow itself to be used for selfish interest.

His full statement below:

Gentlemen,

Thank you for honoring our invitation to this press conference.

As you must be aware by now, a secretly-recorded audio tape of a meeting in Ado-Ekiti of some officials of the PDP, the Jonathan Administration and the Brigade Commander of the 32 Artillery Brigade, Akure, on the eve of the June 21st governorship election in Ekiti State, is now in the public domain.

Also in the public domain is a video interview, with Sahara Reporters, of Capt. Sagir Koli, the Intelligence Officer of the 32 Artillery Brigade, who secretly recorded the details of the meeting.

These audio and video tapes detail how some top officials of the FG and the PDP, including then Minister of State for Defence, Musiliu Obanokoro, Police Affairs Minister Jelili Adesiyan, PDP chieftain Iyiola Omisore, then PDP Governorship Candidate Ayo Fayose and Brigade Commander Brig.-Gen. Aliyu Momoh, among others, used the Nigerian Army and other security agencies to rig the governorship election in Ekiti.

Before I proceed further, let me crave your indulgence to play the two tapes.

Gentlemen, thank you for your patience.

As you can hear and see, the army played a major role in the rigging of the June 21st 2014 Governorship election in Ekiti State.

As Capt. Koli said, a total of 1,006 military officers and men were deployed to Ekiti, as part of a so-called Special Task Force, for the election. Soldiers were deployed to each of the 16 local governments with the express instruction to ‘work’ with the PDP contacts in the local governments

Also, special stickers were given to select PDP officials so their vehicles could be granted an unfettered access to any part of the state, despite the traditional election day restriction of movement.

Recall that in a series of Press Releases we issued before and after the Ekiti election, we raised the alarm about the role of the military in the election.

Specifically, we alerted Nigerians to the fact that Brig.-Gen. Momoh was sent to Ekiti with the express order of ensuring that the election is won by the PDP

Let me quote directly from our Press Release of June 9th 2014, about 12 days before the election. I quote: ”Is it also a mere coincidence that a new Brigade Commander, Brig.-Gen. Momoh, whom they believed to be pliable and willing to do their hatchet job, has been posted from Minna to Akure ahead of the Ekiti elections, to replace Brig.-Gen. A.B. Dikko who refused to be compromised and allow the PDP to rig the recent bye-election in Ondo State? Are the appointments of the Minister of State for Defence and the Minister of Police Affairs, both from the South-west, not part of the Presidency/PDP grand plan to destabilize the region ahead of 2015?”’

Well, as you could hear in the audio tape of the meeting on the eve of the election, we did not cry wolf! Everything we said came to pass.

Recall also that we warned of the nocturnal movements of Obanikoro in Ado Ekiti, the special flights to Akure Airport apparently ferrying money to be used for the Ekiti election, the over-militarization of Ekiti State ostensibly to provide security for the election but now obviously to stifle the process and rig the election, and the fact that an army captain and his troops virtually arrested and detained Gov. Rotimi Amaechi by the roadside while he was on his way to Ado-Ekiti for our party’s final rally ahead of the election.

We further raised the alarm that PDP chieftain Chris Uba – in the presence of AIG Baka Nasarawa; Mrs Florence Ikhanone of SSS; Brig.-Gen. Momoh; and Mr Ayo Fayose’s Chief Security Officer, Kayode Adeoye – addressed the Special Task Force that included 67 SSS operatives, 30 soldiers, 30 NDLEA operatives and 70 mobile policemen.

In their addresses, Adeoye and Uba reminded the officers of the Special Task Force of their duty to President Goodluck Jonathan, who was identified as their benefactor, and how the officers must ensure that their benefactor wins the election.

This was the same team that went round the state from Friday evening and throughout the duration of the election picking up leaders of the APC from across the state in specially-designated black buses with Presidency plate numbers.

Of course, all our warnings fell on deaf ears and the PDP and the Presidency even accused us of crying wolf.

Well, as you can see and hear, we got our information right and everything we warned against came to pass. The rest is history

Now, you must have heard that Obanikoro denied being in any clandestine meeting over the Ekiti election, while Gov. Fayose said a voice software must have been used to make it sound as if he was the one speaking at the meeting.

Then, of course, you have read where Police Affairs Minister Jelili Adesiyan – one of the architects of the PDP rigging plan – admitted that the meeting indeed took place.

With another election coming, and the military again having been used to postpone the elections by six weeks, it is obvious that the PDP and the Jonathan Administration have not learnt their lessons, and that they will continue to abuse the military – a national institution and a symbol of national unity – just so they can win elections at all cost.

Already, soldiers armed to the teeth have been deployed to key opposition stronghold apparently to intimidate the opposition. Armed troops have also been deployed to the areas around the residence of our national leader, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in an effort to harass and intimidate him.

The PDP and the Jonathan Administration have left no one in doubt that they will again abuse the military and use soldiers to rig the forthcoming elections, in spite of the ruling by a Federal High Court in Sokoto that it is unconstitutional to deploy the military to monitor or provide security during elections. The court also ordered that such deployment must stop. To the best of our knowledge, the Federal Government has not appealed that ruling.

It is interesting to note that the PDP, which considers itself above the laws of the land, has now vowed to again use soldiers for election duty. According to the Director-General of the Jonathan/Sambo Campaign Organization, Ahmadu Ali, more military personnel ”are needed to be on ground to forestall any breakdown of law and order as well as to prevent political miscreants from tarnishing the electoral process”. What he meant, perhaps, is that soldiers are needed to rig the elections in favour of his lawless party.

Gentlemen, in view of the foregoing,

1. We urge the National Assembly to launch a probe of the role that the military played in the Ekiti election because of the danger it portends for our democracy. They must invite everyone who featured in that audio of shame to testify about the rigging of Ekiti poll, using the military

2. We want to remind the Presidency and the PDP that the military is a national institution that is far too important as a symbol of our national unity to be toyed with or dragged into partisan politics. We will also remind the military that its loyalty should be to the Federal Republic of Nigeria, not to any party or individual, whoever that person may be.

3. We will like to warn, for the umpteenth time, that the military should not be used for policing duties during elections. That role should be left for the police and the Civil Defence. Is it not curious that over 1,000 troops could be made available for election duty at a time the military was battling the Boko Haram insurgency in the North-east? Is it any surprise then why this battle has not achieved much in six years?

4. We will also like to alert Nigerians to the fact that the Jonathan Administration and the PDP have perfected the plot to again use the military to thwart the aspirations of Nigerians for a change that will usher in a purposeful government. Already, the Social Media is alight with information that the military is meeting in Kaduna with a view to working out the modalities to help the PDP at the polls. This sends the wrong signal to the polity as well as the international community about the role of the military in Nigeria’s elections

5. We want to assure Nigerians that we will ensure that this issue will not be swept under the carpet, and that those who are found to have played an ignominious role in what is now definitely a plot to rig the Ekiti election will be brought to justice.

I thank you for listening.

Alhaji Lai Mohammed
National Publicity Secretary
APC