The Hypocrisy Of APC Leaders

Source: pointblanknews.com

By Edwin Ekene Uhara
After Governor Rauf Aregbesola was declared winner of the August 9

Governorship election in Osun State, I have been expecting the spokesman

of the APC or some its foot soldiers to come up in their usual manner to

raise one complain or the other about the election or even threatening of

going to court over militarisation of the election or accusing the

President and the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of one thing or

the other, but all my expectations went the other way. In place of

grumbling, what I saw and heard was commendation and congratulations going

out to the Governor-elect and the Independent National Electoral

Commission (INEC).
Unlike what happened after the conduct of the Ekiti State Governorship

Election on June 21 where the opposition leaders in their characteristic

zeal came out complaining and disturbing every one over what they called

Militarisation of the election Stomach infrastructure,

Financial inducement among others, such a thing was conspicuously

missing this time around. The question now is how can the party acquit

itself of an allegation levelled against it by Nigerians that If APC

wins an election it becomes free and fair, but if it loses an election,

the entire process becomes fraudulent? Or has the political realities

as was witnessed in Ekiti State changed on getting to Osun State? For

example, Governor Babatunde Fashola in a press statement signed by his

Special Adviser on Media, Mr Hakeem Bellow said: The power rests on the

people in a democracy. The ordinary people of the state of Osun have

spoken the truth about their Governor
and the people-oriented policies of the All Progressives Congress… Osun

State like every other state under the leadership of the All Progressives

Congress remains a proof of our resolve to lead the people of Nigeria to a

better rewarding future, while Governor Rotimi Amaechi in his own

felicitation said The victory was well deserved and it goes to show

that the Osun people decided to vote wisely.
In similar vein, former Vice President Atiku Abukakar in a statement

signed by his media office said The over whelming victory recorded by

APC in the election was a clear indication that Aregbesola is very

popular among the people of the state and thus, the support given to him

and the political party that presented him.
But, it is this same APC that complained in June when it lost the Ekiti

State Governorship Election to Governor Ayodele Fayose of the People

Democratic Party (PDP). The party said that the election was skewed in

favour of the People Democratic Party. In particular, the National Working

Committee of the party after a meeting it held in Abuja issued a

communiqué that reads From the militarilisation of the election to the

police attacks on our supporters, arrest and detention of our leaders

across the state and the use of huge funds to induce voters, the federal

authorities skewed everything in favour of the PDP.

With thousands of armoured troops, police, state security and civil

defence personnel deployed to Ekiti, the state was simply under a total

lockdown. While we belief that the police and the civil defence indeed

have a role to play in providing the necessary security for the election,

we do not see why soldiers who were armed to the teeth need to be deployed

to a non belligerent situation like an election, especially at a time that

their services are more needed elsewhere.
Also, another APC member and a senatorial aspirant on its platform, Mallam

Shehu Sani said Those who accepted, endorsed and embraced Ekiti

elections as free and fair are by extension giving their imprint to the

adoption of it in 2015 general election… The PDP did not win in Ekiti

State; they captured it through the strategy of force and inducement.

Governor Kayode Fayemi™s acceptance of defeat is more for peace than for

justice. Those in Abuja revelling in the victory over APC are simply

toasting to the cruel triumph of might over morality. The will of the

people cannot be said to be freely expressed with a record military while

planes were hovering over the skies of Ekiti and soldiers on the

ground.
But now that the APC has won in Osun State, they are not complaining. They

are not grumbling. They are not threatening of going to court. They are

not accusing the President and the ruling People™s Democratic Party

(PDP) of one offence or the other. They are not ascribing the victory to

Huge financial inducement or heavy military presence even when the

same thing that happened in Ekiti was repeated in Osun. Instead, they are

saying it is a proof of their resolve to lead the people of Nigeria to a

better rewarding future. Is this how to play politics?

Also, now that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has

scheduled the Adamawa State governorship election to hold on October 11,

if the ruling PDP should win because of its great preparations, may be it

will be because the former APC governor was impeached or who knows what

they will come up with?
We should therefore stop making the people believe that Nigeria practice

democracy only when the opposition wins election and vice versa. Our

fledgling democracy can only grow when we learn to celebrate victories

without hurting the other person as well as how to accept defeat in good

faith without discrediting the whole process. This is the only way we can

grow our democracy to maturity and global recognition! Anything less than

that amounts to hypocrisy and the travesty of democracy.

Comrade Edwin Ekene Uhara is an Activist and a Public Affairs Commentator.

He is also a member of PDP Project Reloaded Media Team. Reach him on

07065862479 or [email protected]
 
The post The Hypocrisy Of APC Leaders appeared first on Pointblank News .