APC demands probe of military role in Ekiti polls, alleged intimidation of opposition

A day after it cried out that the Ikoyi Lagos residence of Bola Tinubu, its national leader, was put under surveillance by the military, the All Progressives Congress (APC) has called for a full scale investigation into the role of the military in an alleged secretly recorded audio tape, now viral on social media on how the last Ekiti State governorship polls was allegedly rigged.

The party is also demanding the probe of the alleged intimidation of the opposition by the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

Lai Mohammed, the national publicity secretary of the APC who addressed the media on the development in Lagos, Wednesday, also said in view of the “ignoble role of the military in previous elections”, subsequent elections in the country should only be monitored by the police and the civil defence corps.

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The party publicity secretary said the military and the Federal Government must explain to Nigerians and the international community their role in the Ekiti governorship election which Kayode Fayemi of the APC lost to Ayo Fayose of the PDP.

“These audio and video tapes detail how some top officials of the Federal Government 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.”

The APC scribe, who played the audio revealing the interview with Captain Koli, insisted that the army played a major role in the alleged rigging of the June 21, 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.

He alleged soldiers were deployed to each of the 16 local government areas with the express instruction to ‘work’ with the PDP contacts in the local governments areas, while special stickers were allegedly given to select PDP officials to ensure that their vehicles could be granted unfettered access to any part of the state, despite the traditional election day restriction of movement.