Ondo Gov Poll: Warn your Party Not to Truncate Democracy, Civil Society Group Tells Tinubu
…Accuses APC of violence, underhand tactics
…Tells Int’l Community to Watch Nigeria
The Joint Action Council for Democratic Governance (JACODEG) has called on President Bola Tinubu not to destroy his credential as a democrat by watching his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), truncate democracy through the Ondo State Governorship Election.
The Council gave the warning on Friday, in a statement made available to newsmen in Akure, noting that the APC has been deploying the instruments of violence and intimidation against other parties ahead of Saturday, 16 November Election.
The Executive Director of JACODEG, Mr Dennis Okparaocha, in the said statement, said preliminary findings by the Council showed how the ruling party in Ondo State has imported thugs led by a popular transport union leader from Lagos State into Ondo.
He added that attacks had been carried out against innocent residents and members of the opposition parties in Idanre and other parts of the state.
The Council called on the European Union and other international organisations to watch the APC and its antics in the Ondo State Governorship Election so that it would guide their future dealings with the Tinubu-led Federal Government.
The statement read: “We have noted with measured caution the ongoing moves being made by the ruling APC in Ondo State ahead of the state’s Governorship Election scheduled to hold tomorrow, which can truncate democratic governance in Nigeria.
“We can report based on our preliminary findings that the APC has been deploying the instruments of violence, threats and intimidation to win Saturday, November 16 Election at all cost.
“This is apart from the massive plan to monetise the elections and continue the tradition of ‘Dibo ko sebe’ which it started in the same state in 2016.
“We know President Tinubu to be a democrat, though his siddon look approach to the shenanigans carried out in Edo State is now suggesting that he is not different from past presidents who jettisoned democratic values for their win or mar tendencies.
“We urge the President to call his party to order in Ondo or risk allowing it to destroy democracy.
“We are also calling on all international organisations with interests in democratic governance to pay attention to the Ondo Governorship Election with a view to using it as a yardstick to measure their future relationships with the APC-led Federal Government.”
