Presidency uncovers plot to discredit April polls

Posted by admin Elections 2011 Sunday, March 6th, 2011

THE presidency is said to have uncovered plot by some opposition figures to discredit the process

leading to the conduct of the April general election, even before the elections are conducted.

Sources told the Nigerian Tribune that the government had uncovered plans by certain opposition leaders to push negative stuff about the elections into some media houses, and they would then draw the attention of foreign observers to such stories in the heat of the elections.

Sources said on Sunday that government had asked concerned agencies to be on the prevent to avert a situation where Nigerians are blackmailed after a rigorous exercise.

A source said that one of the groups suspected to be working on how to discredit the elections had recently published a number of reasons the elections may not be free and fair in April.

The source further said that the said publication was capped by another media report linking President Goodluck Jonathan to the rigging of the 2007 elections.

“Whereas there is no iota of truth in the claims, the oppositions [groups], having sensed apparent defeat, are trying to lay a foundation for an orchestrated blackmail of the election process,” the source said.

He further added that since the opposition sensed that they would lose the election, they had not been campaigning as hard as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

“President Jonathan has gone from zone to zone; he is going from state to state and he is going from city to city and door to door. He and his campaigners are busy explaining, campaigning and reaching out to the people directly. He is showing example of a true democrat but the opposition are sleeping and trying to hide under the banner of a presidential debate, which will not be seen by 75 per cent of Nigerians who have no access to television,” a source further stated.

The source added that four weeks to the presidential election, the opposition groups are yet to cover the states in any of the six geopolitical zones, asking when they would be able to cover the length and breadth of Nigeria.

The source said that President Jonathan had shown clearly in four instances that he was bent on delivering free and fair elections to Nigerians, adding that on those occasions, not even the opposition would dispute the elections.

The source stated that the four elections supervised by President Jonathan include the by-elections in Etsako Central in Edo State and Ikorodu in Lagos State; the Anambra governorship election and the council election in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

“In all these four elections, the winners emerged clearly. Not even the ACN could protest its defeat in Ikorodu, in Lagos, because it was transparent. The election in Etsako in Edo was also not contested by the PDP, so President Jonathan’s pedigree in the conduct of free and fair elections is not in doubt,” the source further said.

Another source said on Sunday: “President Jonathan is not afraid of debate but it must be a debate, devoid of mudslinging and targeted at finding solutions. He is a democrat who believes in process and we have realised that apart from the candidate of the All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP), Governor Ibrahim Shekarau, all other contenders are not tested in democratic governance. Buhari was a despot and Ribadu was never an administrator. The attempt to create doubts in the minds of Nigerians and the international community is an attempt to capture the leadership of this country through false avenues and this cannot happen,” the source said.

-Tribunewp_posts