Ahead of tomorrow’s presidential and National Assembly elections, a former Deputy National chairman South-West of Nigeria’s main opposition party, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Olabode George, has warned the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) that the will of Nigerians must be respected.
George stated this at a press conference, Thursday, in his office at Ikoyi, Lagos State, noting that there could be serious consequences if the result of the election do not reflect the will of Nigerians.
George further stated that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and incumbent Muhammadu Buhari could not force themselves on Nigerians when it was obvious that the party had been rejected by the citizenry.
“INEC must prove to us that this election is free and fair, and we are watching. Nigerians must be prayerful that we would remember this election month positively, we have reached a stage where you cannot force yourself on the people,”’ George said. He noted that “Britain and the U.S are looking at Nigeria.”
He drew attention to the consequences of election rigging, declaring: “We saw it when election was rigged in 1966, in western Nigeria, I was still small and in school, it started like this and we saw the consequences that followed.”
George warned that no nation goes into civil war twice and survives, stressing that the will of the people must prevail. George said.
Referring to recent developments in the nation’s judiciary, pointing out that these showed that the judiciary was under siege.
“The Judiciary is the last hope of the common man. The sanctity of the judiciary must be maintained,” he said, and warned that no other arm of government can control the other. “Iif you now decide to be controlling the Judiciary it means you are becoming authoritative. They have their rules.”
George urged Nigerians to vote for Atiku Abubakar, the candidate of the PDP in Saturday’s presidential election, stressing that his promise to restructure the country was what was urgently needed.
“Restructuring of the country is inevitable; it is an adjustment of the present system of government and it is now obvious that the present system is not working. Atiku is the man to deliver us,” George added.
Iniobong Iwok
