The All Progressive Congress (APC) has said it would resist any attempt by any group of people to shift the date of the next general elections to be held February next year.
The party said in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, that shifting the date already set for the elections may be part of the plans by some desperate office holders to perpetuate themselves in office beyond their terms.
Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said those who are flying the kite of pushing forward the election ostensibly because the nation is at war are trying to imperil the nation’s democracy.
”Election is the lifeblood of democracy, the mechanism by which modern representative democracy operates. It is the only way for the citizenry to renew and refresh the governing process so they can get the most benefits out of democracy. Therefore, anyone that tries to sabotage this mechanism is aiming a dagger straight at the heart of democracy,” it said.
APC said the statement credited to Senate President David Mark, that ”there is no question of elections, it is not even on the table now. We are in a state of war,” reflects the thinking in government circles, even though the Senate President, having run into a wall of opposition over his unfortunate statement, has tried to step back from the comments.
”We in the APC saw this coming, and we have said it at several fora: That the Jonathan Administration has deliberately allowed the insurgency in the North-east, an opposition stronghold, to fester so he can cash in on it to get re-elected. Simply put, the Administration has been playing dirty politics with Boko Haram, at the expense of the lives and property of the citizenry and the well-being of the nation.
”However, the Administration is being too clever by half to think that Nigerians will reward it for its failure in its main reason for existence, which is the protection of the welfare and security of the citizens. There is just no way this government will be allowed to profit from its ineptness and its conspiracy to prolong an insurgency that should have ended a long time ago,” the party said.
APC said countries like Afghanistan and Iraq successfully held elections even though they are in a state of war, hence there is no reason why Nigeria cannot organize elections because of the insurgency in a part of the country.
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