In line with our self-task objective of defending the overall interest of the people of Akwa Ibom at any given time, we wish to restate, for the umpteenth time, that Akwa Ibom Mandate Union (AKMU) will not sit on the fence on matters concerning 2019 general elections, particularly where and when the interest of Akwa Ibom is at stake. It is for this reason that we wish to alert the general public in Nigeria and Diaspora of a sinister move by a certain opposition party in Akwa Ibom State targeted at truncating the will of the electorates in the state.
*The Sinister Move of Truncating 2019 Elections in Akwa Ibom State:*
It has been uncovered that an opposition party in Akwa Ibom State is perfecting plans, in connivance with some scrupulous elements at Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to omit one or more political parties in the ballot papers for Governorship and House of Assemblies Elections slated for March 2, 2019. The aim is to render the exercise invalid from the word, go, thereby sponsoring candidate(s) of the omitted party(ies) to seek redress in court paving way for postponement of the Akwa Ibom State Governorship and House of Assemblies Election.
If the idea, as so planned, succeeds, the Governorship and House of Assemblies Elections would be postponed and conducted on a date other than that of other states in the country. By so doing, the underlisted possibilities would subsequently follow as so arranged by the political party:
1. The Nigerian Police Force would mobilize not less than 40, 000 personnel in the Force to ostensibly beef up security in the state during the rescheduled election.
2. The mobilization of the personnel to the state is to intimidate voters with their “federal might mentality” as well as cause fear and voter’s apathy in the rescheduled election.
3. Aside causing siege mentality in the state, the deployment of addition police officers from other state police commands in the country would facilitate massive rigging of the elections throughout the state by elements of the opposition party to pave way for pronouncement of concocted results.
4. The postponement would afford topnotch politicians / members of the party from other states to come into the Akwa Ibom state apparently with huge amount of cash; and to boost the morale of their party members in the state.
5. In doing so, they would fly with message such as “the order is from above” to intimidate and suppress the motivation of INEC staff and security from doing their duties effectively.
6. These high-ranking politicians would also be going about with heavy presence of security personnel to further intimidate the voters not to vote for candidates of their choice but for certain candidate of the opposition party thereby ensuring their so called “federal might” theory of winning elections.
7. In the event that intimidation is not successful, the top class politicians from other states who would have imported huge sum of money to the state would resort to vote buying, which, with the experience of the last Governorship Elections in Ekiti and Osun States, has become an advanced method of wooing voters to vote for parties and candidates other than the one originally in their minds.
8. They would ensure further that the number of groups and individuals involved as Election Observers be increased to accommodate foot soldiers of the top politicians from other states, who, in the process of disguising as Election Observers would carry out any or all of these four functions:
(i). Vote buying
(ii). Intimidate the voters with “the-order-from-above” message.
(iii). Assist polling officers to thwart processes of voting to disenfranchise likely supporters of PDP.
(iv) Assist in rigging the election for the opposition party in the state.
9. It has also been uncovered that the likelihood of the use of fake police officers is top on the list of fraudulent methods to be deployed by the opposition party for the 2019 Elections in Akwa Ibom State. The fake police officers are party thugs from outside Akwa Ibom. The plan is for them to work with thugs of the opposition party, who are of Akwa Ibom State origin. The thugs would be well armed with ammunition. If their plans succeed, they would be shooting sporadically on election day to scare away voters and pave way for rigging by the opposition party in the state.
10. They have also been instructed to kill or maim anyone that dare stands their way on the election day according to the “Warsaw” theory.
*Conclusion:*
While alerting the international bodies and Nigerians to these sinister moves by the opposition, we are also alerting the general public in Akwa Ibom State to be alert with a view of resisting the sinister move by the opposition party through all possible means within the armpit of the law.
The AKMU hereby draws the attention of the Election Management Body in Nigeria, INEC, the Federal Government of Nigeria, the European Union, EU, and the United Nations Security Council, UNSC, to act and ensure that all political parties are guided accordingly with a view to checking the ominous plans in order to avert likely bloodbath, as the Government and good people of Akwa Ibom state may resort to self-defense whenever and wherever they are pushed to the wall with those rigging methodologies outlined above.
Notwithstanding that we can only bark and not bite, the AKMU will continue to play the role of a watchdog believing that it is never too late to save the day.
Signed
Dr. Tom FredFish
International President, AKMU
01/02/2019
