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National Vice-Chairman, South West, of the Peoples Democratic Party, Mr Eddy Olafeso has accused the APC-led federal government of bias against Southerners citing as an example, the recent promotion of 14 senior police officers to the rank of commissioner with 10 out of the 14 coming from the North. He warned that there may not be a nation called Nigeria after 2023 if the principle of zoning the presidency between the north and south is scrapped. He also spoke on other national issues in this interview by TUNDE THOMAS.
Many Nigerians are still reacting to the conduct of recent elections in Kogi and Bayelsa states, what’s your own take on the polls?
It is a big setback for Nigeria’s democracy. It is a big embarrassment to Nigeria. Even the international observers described elections in the two states as a sham. For me, the elections in those two states were nothing short of a disgrace. APC has finally shown the kind of party it is. APC is known for plundering institutions, and what APC has done in Bayelsa and Kogi states is a shame. What APC has done in the two states has serious implications for the future of democracy in Nigeria, and the implication is that if APC and INEC continue this way then democracy in Nigeria will be endangered.
How would you rate INEC’s conduct of the polls in the two states?
Like I said earlier, the whole exercise was a total embarrassment. INEC is gradually proving that it has become a department of APC. The daylight rigging was also carried out in connivance with the security agencies. INEC under the leadership of Professor Mahmoud Yakubu has become a big embarrassment. What we are now seeing in the country is no longer elections but open war being waged against the electorate. To me, APC met strong institutions on the ground before taking power in 2015. The Police, the Judiciary and other security agents are now all at a point of being cowed and INEC can no longer claim to be a respected unbiased umpire again.
With your observations, what are your fears over the elections coming up in Edo and Ondo states next year?
I know fully well that nobody messes with an Ondo man. Ondo State people will defend themselves against any manipulation and rigging and our votes will count. What happened in Bayelsa and Kogi states is not possible in Ondo State. In Ondo State, we always stand for principles. INEC, Police and everybody coming to conduct elections in Ondo State must have that knowledge before coming. Ondo State people are peaceful, and we are peace loving but we will not allow any manipulation and rigging. Any attempt by INEC and APC to repeat what they did in Bayelsa and Kogi in Ondo State will boomerang. INEC and APC should therefore be very careful.
All I know is that PDP has some internal challenges during the Bayelsa elections, and I won’t say PDP was perfect in all decisions that were taken before that election. Certain bad decisions were certainly responsible for PDP ‘s loss to APC in Bayelsa State but besides that, the conduct of INEC and security agents were nothing to write home about. But for us in PDP, we’ve learnt our lessons, we are not going to be crying over spilt milk.
We are going to explore constitutional means to get our mandate back, but if not it will be a lesson for the future. We must learn how to carry everybody along. I don’t want to judge former President Goodluck Jonathan when I didn’t see what he had done wrong.
Jonathan is the highest-ranking member of PDP. I have absolute respect for his position and his person. For embracing the tenets of democracy, we must not diminish Jonathan by those frivolous thinking and accusations that were unfounded in reality and i
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