Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) has accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and security agencies of working for the All Progressive Congress (APC) during the Osun governorship rerun election.
Its spokesman, Imo Ugochinyere, in a statement on Thursday, said the crisis that occured in 1983 over election manipulation will be a child’s play in 2019 if the Osun scenario replays itself.
He said the same INEC that claimed to have cancelled results of some Polling Units due to disruption watched with collaborative silence as security forces comprising the Police, Civil Defence, Federal Road Safety Corps, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, Nigeria Immigration Service, Nigeria Customs Service and the Nigerian Army comfortably turned themselves into joint militant wing of the vote-stealing APC.
CUPP said: “For the very first time in Nigeria electoral history, accredited journalists and observers were man handled, stopped from accessing voting areas. Security forces watched while helplessly while APC thugs molested and intimidated voters, dispossessed them of their permanent voters card and abducted accredited agents of the opposition.
“INEC has finally confirmed the speculation that it was indeed a conspirator in the denial of the mandate of Osun people freely given to Senator Ademola Adeleke. Nobody is in doubt anymore that the shenanigans of INEC during the collation and declaration of result was for a purpose.
“The deduction of votes from Senator Adeleke, the fictitious adding of votes for Alhaji Oyetola and suspicious declaration of an election adjudged by all INEC accredited observers as the freest and fairest in recent times as inconclusive due to disruptions is akin to INEC discrediting its own process just to please the APC.
“The whole world has watched the show of shame in Osun. The whole world has seen Prof Mahmood Yakubu dance shamelessly naked in the market square for personal aggrandizement, all his pontification as a revolutionary and crusader of free and fair election have been washed down the drain. His character was tested, he failed woefully.
“We had expected the INEC Chairman to rise above this madness, alas, he has only shown he is unashamedly one of them.
“We hereby join the call by patriotic Nigerians to demand the immediate resignation of Prof Mahmood Yakubu from office as the INEC Chairman while calling on all international agencies investing their money and other resources to see to a credible election to know that Prof. Mahmood is the singular greatest threat to credible elections in Nigeria. Any investments in INEC while he seats as Chairman is a waste and should be discontinued immediately till he leaves office.
“We also remind our fellow countrymen that freedom cometh by struggle. Osun is the bridge of our tolerance to this quantum of brigandage by state institutions saddled with the responsibility to ensure credible elections.
“Beyond this bridge, we shall not tolerate, accept or condone the acts of stealing of the mandate of the people. Osun is the last, it will not happen again.
“Finally, we call on the good people of Osun to remain peaceful as their mandate will be restored by the judiciary.
“INEC should cancel this sham, this charade, this contraption it conducted in Osun today if they ever want the Nigerian electorate to take them serious.” (Photo: Sycamoretimes)