Against the backdrop of the revelations contained in a confessional televised statement by the embattled Ekiti State Secretary
of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Dr Tope Aluko, on Channels Television live programme on Sunday, the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state has urged the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, to prosecute all indicted people in the election rigging scandal.
The party said it had on two occasions petitioned the Office of the Attorney General and Minister of Justice on the same matter, stressing that the latest revelations by PDP scribe had made it imperative that the nation’s chief law officer must act now.
Publicity Secretary, Taiwo Olatunbosun, noted in a statement on Monday that the election fraud crisis had refused to go despite all shenanigans by Governor Ayodele Fayose, who he said was the biggest beneficiary of the election fraud that had created blight on Nigeria’s international image.
The APC spokesman said even though there was nothing new in the PDP’s scribe’s revelations, he noted, however, that it had become pertinent to prosecute the suspects as the revelations were again emanating from the insider who participated fully in what is now known as Ekitigate.
“By Aluko’s revelations, we are justified in our claim that our candidate, Dr Kayode Fayemi, never lost that election, but was criminally toppled by a coup d’etat orchestrated by Fayose in cahoots with President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration that illegally deployed money and the military to ensure victory for Fayose.
“It is interesting that more names are coming up in the biggest election scam ever witnessed in Nigeria with the alleged participation of Ifeanyi Ubah of the infamous Transformation Agenda for Nigeria (TAN), a shadowy campaign group for former President Jonathan in the fraud. No wonder Ubah was compensated with a honorary Fellow by Fayose at the Ekiti State College of Education for a job well done.
“It is in the light of this that we are calling on the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation to prosecute all the suspects in the election fraud for treasonable felony to preserve the integrity of the Nigerian Constitution,” Olatunbosun said.
The APC said President Muhammadu Buhari should use Ekiti election fraud case to convince Nigerians that official impunity and fraud would not have a place in Nigeria under his watch.
“We have seen the Army already tackling the military aspect of the Army Probe Panel report. We expect the police and attorney general of the federation to also tow the line in coming out with the civilian component of the probe report and act accordingly.
“The military men were mere agents used by Fayose to rig the election. Some of the officers implicated in Fayose’s crime had been recommended for various sanctions, including losing their jobs while others are to face prosecution by the EFCC and court martial, according to the military rules and administrative procedure.
“These military men should not be made to suffer alone for the crime committed in conjunction with Fayose and his fellow conspirators in PDP who are still working free as if there is no law in this country,” he said.
Olatunbosun berated Fayose’s media aides, Lanre Ogunsuyi and Lere Olayinka, for claiming that Captain Koli’s audio tape was a forgery, saying, however, that it was gratifying that Fayose, who also first denied his voice on the tape, later admitted that the voice was his. If the Ekiti audio tape was a forgery as they alleged, were the appearances of Koli and Tope Aluko also forgeries?
Noting that Fayose had always mouthed his readiness to wave his immunity to face prosecution over alleged crimes, he said now was the time to wave that immunity to face prosecution on the electoral fraud.
He insisted that APC would not accept anything short of comprehensive review of Ekiti State election saga, even as he urged Nigerians to prevail on the minister of justice to compel Fayose to explain to the world what he meant by saying that he collected INEC soft copies and got them printed as captured in Captain Sagir Koli’s tape detailing all activities connected with Ekiti poll rigging.
“Besides Fayose talking on the tape about how INEC gave him soft copies that he printed to win the election, the minister of justice must also compel the governor, who spoke on election result collation in the tape, to tell Nigerians which election result he was collating in Efon-Alaye on June 19, 2014, two clear days before the June 21, 2014 governorship election,” Olatunbosun concluded.