Being text of the Press Conference addressed by the National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Alhaji Lai Mohammed, in Lagos on Friday, April 10, 2015
Good evening gentlemen.
Earlier today, we issued a Press Release on the desperation of the PDP to capture Lagos at all cost in Saturday’s Governorship and House of Assembly elections.
We gave details of how the party has flown some result sheets from Abuja to Lagos, and how the President himself flew into Lagos on Thursday apparently to personally oversee the rigging plans.
Well, we have more information on their evil machinations, hence we have invited you to this press conference.
Gentlemen, let me give you the highlights, before going into the full details
1. The PDP is engaged in gun running ahead of the polls.
2. They have started distributing fake result sheets
3. The President has brought a war chest of N10 billion to Lagos specifically for the Lagos elections
4. AIG Mbu Joseph Mbu has seized control of the Lagos command from Police Commissioner Kayode Aderanti….for the elections
5. Plan to arrest, harass and intimidate key leaders of the APC.
GUN RUNNING AND FAKE RESULT SHEETS
Gentlemen, the PDP is ready to storm polling units in areas where the APC is strong either to disrupt voting by attacking voters or simply carry away voting materials.
We have it on good authority that the PDP point man has been driving around designated pick-up points to drop fake NYSC and military uniforms, guns and cash. In a clandestine and brazen operation in Lagos, this point man and his team have also added the distribution of fake result sheets to PDP agents.
At a popular Maryland Vendor stand, which is one of the muster points for the PDP thugs, three big bags containing NYSC Polo shirts, as well as fake Police and Army uniforms, were handed over to some PDP thugs by the agents Then at 5:30 AM this morning, at exactly the same location, the Vendor stand in Maryland close to Mobil Filing station, two white Hilux trucks pulled up and dropped 60 medium size rectangular cartons.
On hand were the same men who collected the bags of fake NYSC T-shirts some days back. Their conversation, which took place in Yoruba language, revealed a lot. The four men asked from the person delivering the cartons “owo nko” (where is the money). The man in the car said both the money and the guns were inside the box. He also explained to the four men that later in the evening of today, Friday, the four men should return to the same point to collect fake result sheets from Bajulaiye (the hub of printing in Lagos) that will be wrapped up in newspapers and delivered just like the way newspapers are delivered.
The men, who collected the guns, fake uniforms and result sheets, are those designated to storm polling units to tomorrow. They will also instigate violence across the state, with a view to scaring away voters, especially in APC strongholds.
The PDP has turned Saturday’s elections into a do-or-die affair. The plan is to use thugs and militants who have also been imported into the state to intimidate voters, snatch ballot boxes and provide cover for the PDP to announce false results tomorrow. Fake ballot papers as well as results sheets are already being issued to the PDP.
N10 BILLION WAR CHEST
As we said in our Press Release earlier today, the President flew into Lagos on Thursday expressly to oversee the PDP’s rigging plans. He met with his point men: Musiliu Obanikoro, Jimi Agbaje and Gani Adams, apparently to hand over the war chest to them.
It is interesting that despite their failure, in view of the dollar rain that fell on the South-west, to capture the region, they have not relented in wasting public funds to swing the outcome of elections.
Nigerians have shown that they cannot be swayed by bribery. If money were to be the determming factor, the PDP would not have lost the presidential elections. Just as they failed on March 28, they will fail again tomorrow
As I said earlier, the President was in Lagos yesterday and held a night-time meeting with top PDP chieftains in the presence of AIG Zone 2, Joseph Mbu. The meeting discussed and perfected plans to rig tomorrow’s governorship election in Lagos State.
The PDP chieftains complained that the CP in Lagos was not cooperating with them and was a hindrance to their rigging plans. It was, therefore, decided to sideline the CP, Kayode Aderanti and illegally draft in the AIG to take charge of the elections in Lagos. It was claimed that the CP refused to cooperate in allowing the announcement of fake results in the presidential election.
Acting on Jonathan’s directive, Mbu stormed the Lagos police HQ today and took over the CP’s office, claiming he is now in charge of the election in Lagos. Meanwhile, the IG of police, Suleiman Abba, had posted the DIG in charge of training in Abuja, Mr Argungu, to oversee the election in Lagos. Mbu had been posted to take charge of affairs in Ogun State. The President, by his directive, has overridden the directives of the IG without his knowledge.
The CP, Mr Kayode Adearanti, has resisted the rigging attempt and insisted that due process must be adhered to constitutionally. In the same way, the REC, just as he did during the presidential election, is also insisting on free and fair elections in Lagos. The PDP is attempting to use Mbu and the GOC – who is Jonathan’s relation – to force a false result on the REC.
PLAN TO ARREST, HARASS AND INTIMIDATE KEY APC LEADERS
Key leaders of our party, the APC, have been targetted for arrest, harassment and intimidation as part of measures to destabilise the party on election day.
Key point men have been designated to invade the residences of the leaders starting from this evening.
CONCLUSION
Having milked its cash cow to death on March 28, the PDP has decided that it would grab new cash cows. Such cash cows are economically-viable states like Lagos and oil-producing states like Rivers.
The PDP has vowed not to lose any of such states, hence the desperate acts we have enumerated above. They do not care about the votes of the people, and are not interested in counting votes or making them count. All they want is to capture any state that catches their fancy.
Again, we urge our members and supporters not to be intimidated. We urge them to be extra vigilant and to document all cases of voter harassment and intimidation as well as election malfeasance.
We also call on local and international observers to pay a very close attention to the conduct of the elections in Lagos and River states, and on INEC not to allow itself to be used.
