In a statement issued in Lagos,
yesterday, by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party
said its efforts should be complemented by the PDP-led Federal Government,
which has a propensity for using the security agencies to harass and intimidate
the opposition and ordinary citizens.
It also said the Federal Government
should take necessary measures to ensure that the elections are free, fair and
credible, since rigging and other acts of electoral malfeasance constitute the
immediate trigger for anger and violence during and after elections.
It said: ”We have heard from
Nigerians who are so afraid about possible violence during the forthcoming
elections that they are even willing to relocate to other countries until after
the elections. But, as the biggest opposition party in Nigeria and a major
stakeholder in our nation’s democracy, we are assuring, on our part, that there
will be no violence.
”Though our party has no history of
violence, we have commenced a nationwide effort to sensitise our members and
supporters to the need to eschew rancour and embrace non-violent methods, even
in the face of the kind of provocations to which we were subjected during the
Ekiti and Osun governorship elections, when our members were needlessly
harassed, arrested and detained by partisan security agencies acting under
orders from the Federal Government.
”If the Federal Government allows a
level playing field for all contestants, if the security agencies stop acting as
the armed wing of the ruling PDP, if the electoral umpire will carry out its
duties without fear, favour or bias and if citizens are allowed to exercise
their franchise unmolested, the stage will be set for a non-violent, free, fair
and credible polls. In other words, the government has a major role to play in
making the forthcoming polls peaceful.
”On our part, in addition to other
efforts aimed at ensuring a peaceful election, we pledge to accept the result
of an election that is not only free, fair, credible and transparent, but one
that is also seen to be so. We hope other parties will make a similar pledge.”
The party said it demonstrated,
during its recent rancour-free and festive national convention in Lagos, that
elections should be a celebration of democracy, rather than a moment of fear,
violence and threat to lives.
It said far from mere rhetoric, it
had taken practical steps, as far back as May 2014, to work with the PDP to
ensure violence-free polls in 2015.
APC said: ”Following up on a meeting of representatives of both parties in
Washington, DC, US, April 7-8 2014 under the auspices of the CSIS Nigeria
Election Forum, at which it was agreed that a joint meeting of both parties be
convened to discuss and agree on the crucial issue of a Code of Conduct for the
campaigns and the elections, we wrote a letter to the PDP suggesting a
bipartisan meeting to address the issue.
”The PDP agreed to the proposal and
suggested that it should be expanded to include the leadership of other
political parties in the country. However, problem with logistics meant that
the meeting did not hold.
”Even with the little time left for
the election to hold, we strongly believe that a meeting of the leadership of
the two political parties, the APC and the PDP, will send a powerful message to
our compatriots and indeed the international community and douse the tension
that is building up ahead of the election.”
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