…..accuse party of fraud
A group of elected lawmakers on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, APC, has accused their party of carrying out fraudulent activities in the race for the position of Speaker of the House of Representatives.
The group dismissed a mock election the APC held for the representatives elected on its platform. The election held on Saturday by the ruling party was won by Femi Gbajabiamila (Lagos), one of the two APC aspirants vying for the position of speaker.
However, the Consolidation group of APC lawmakers-elect, which is rooting for Yakubu Dogara (Bauchi), also a member of the party, boycotted the poll.
In a statement on Sunday, following their meeting at Bolingo Hotel and Towers Abuja, the Consolidation group said it rejects the mock election because it was “fraudulent” and “not in tandem with the constitution.
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The group added that the John Odigie-Oyegun-led leadership of the APC brought ridicule to the party in an attempt to “allow the number four citizen of this country to be pocketed by one selfish and greedy individual.”
Although the group did not mention the “selfish and greedy individual,” its is believed to be referring to Bola Tinubu, a national and influential leader of the APC who is perceived to be supporting Mr. Gbajabiamila’s candidacy. The latter has denied being sponsored by Mr. Tinubu, saying the former Lagos governor was very reluctant to support his candidacy despite appeals by other party leaders including the Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai.
Our fraudulent party
In its statement by Abdulmumin Jubrin (Kano), the Consolidated group said,”The APC leadership keep telling the public that an election was conducted and Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila got 154 votes while Hon. Yakubu Dogara got 3 votes. It is a blatant lie, fraud and shameful for the APC leaders to descend so low.”
“The mock election actually showed that APC has made a mockery of itself because we walked out of the venue even before they perpetrated the illegality.
“Hon. Dogara was not in the hall as at the time they said he was nominated but the APC leaders planted someone who impersonated one of us and another person was also planted and he accepted the nomination. This is fraudulent, shameful, and dishonest. It was all arranged and done by APC.”
“The stability of the House is very important and the the House to be left alone to elect its speaker. We will never allow the number four citizen of this country to be pocketed by one selfish (individual). We want a courageous speaker who is free from the apron strings of a godfather and not one that will create special bedroom in the pocket of an individual,” Mr. Jubrin, who had earlier showed interest in the speakership position but stepped down for Mr. Dogara said.
The group expressed optimism that its candidate would emerge Speaker on Tuesday when all the members, including those of other parties, would elect the principal officers of the House.
“On Tuesday the real picture of the strength of our candidate Hon. Yakubu Dogara will emerge.
“We are shocked and surprised that barely two weeks after taking over as the ruling party, is this the change we want to offer to Nigerians? Is this the departure from the past that Nigerians wanted?
“We have never seen this kind of manipulation in the political history of Nigeria. We are being intimidated and threatened because we tow the path of honour.
“We decided to follow our conscience and do the right thing for our country.
“We won’t let this country down. Despite the mockery of an election by the APC we are going ahead on the 9th June 2015 to nominate Hon. Yakubu Dogara on the floor of the House as speaker. They don’t understand the dynamics of an election of House leadership
“This is the House of the Nigerian people, we are going ahead to nominate our aspirant who has what it takes to lead us. Dogara is stainless, he comes with integrity similar to that of President Muhammadu Buhari.
“We have decided that the only place we can also take our case to, because of the huge amount of threat and intimidation to some of us, we have decided to write a petition to the President of the Federal Republic to intervene and call the party leaders to order.
We are very confident that the president will look at the matter in a very just manner.”
Both groups within the APC reps-elect are lobbying to get the support of the Peoples Democratic Party reps-elect who form the second largest party representation in the House.
