The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has now admitted that the Ekiti rigging audio tape was authentic only that the subject was manipulated and doctored to favour the All Progressives Congress.
The Party’s campaign Director for Media and Publicity, Femi Fani-Kayode while speaking on the audio tape, said that the voices heard in the discussion were not planning to rig the elections as alleged by the APC.
Mr Kayode who divulged this at a press conference in Abuja, said that after a careful reviewed of the recording, his team has come to realize that the opposition All Progressives Congress manipulated the true situation by accusing Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti state; former Minister of State for Defence, Musiliu Obanikoro; and the Minister of Police Affairs, Jelili Adesiyan, of planning to rig the election.
“We have listened to the audio clip and we make bold to say that the discussion that took place in it did not make any mention of any form of rigging in the Ekiti state governorship election and neither did it contain any evidence of any conspiracy to rig,” he said.
He said that direct opposite was the case as the same Governor Fayose who was accused of planning to rig the election had expressed concerns that a military commander was not acting on information about illegal movement of weapons into some parts of the state.
“The Governor and others were apparently worried that safety of the voters and INEC officials
Fani Kayode further alleged that the APC failed completely to do a critical content analysis of the discussions in the audio clip, accusing the party of rigging the governorship election in Osun state.
“During the course of those elections, some of their agents gathered in secret locations where they thumb-printed ballot papers in favor of their governorship candidate, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola,” he said.
He further supported the allegation with a video tape he claimed proved the APC rigged the election in Osun state.
“It is ironic that instead of purging itself of its own insatiable appetite for rigging and cheating, the APC, through its Presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari, chose to call a press conference in which he alleged that our leaders were ordering soldiers to rig in Ekiti state.
“This is a clear case of the pot calling the kettle black,” he said.
He went further to accuse the APC and its Presidential candidate, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd) of making several attempts to cause violence in the country.
“It is now very clear to us that the APC is determined to cause security breaches in the next few weeks. This has been confirmed by their vigorous campaign of calumny against the military and their consistent demand that soldiers must not be deployed for security surveillance at the polling booths in the forthcoming elections,” he said.
“General Buhari said that the patience of the APC and its leaders were on test. One wonders what he means by that and what he and his supporters intend to do once that patience runs out.
“In an AFP news report of Friday, February 6, 2015, he was asked if he would accept the outcome of the presidential election no matter how unfavourable. Listen to his answer: “I am not going to lose; so I won’t answer that question.”
“Again, only yesterday, Wednesday, February 18, 2015, in an interview on ARISE Television, General Buhari was asked what his reaction would be if he loses the election. His answer was: “We shall see.”
“As far as we are concerned, these are ominous and subtle threats to unleash violence on the Nigerian people and all those that he perceives are his enemies in the event of his losing the election,” he said.
Kayode Gen. Buhari has succeeded in inflaming the destructive passion of his supporters in the northern part of the country on many occasions in the past.
“We recall his unacceptable remarks on May 15, 2012 when he said “if what happened in 2011 should happen again in 2015, the dog and the baboon would be soaked in blood”.
“We witnessed the orgy of violence that they unleashed shortly after the announcement of the results of the 2011 presidential election, which the Sheik Lemu Committee, in its report to the Federal Government, said was caused by Buhari’s inflammatory statements.
“We recall with sadness the massacre of some of our vibrant youth corps members who participated in the 2011 election as INEC’s ad-hoc staff in Bauchi State.
“We are concerned that the same thing may happen again given General Buhari’s divisive and inciting comments coupled with the APC’s violent disposition,” Mr. Fani-Kayode said.
He dismissed the attempt by the APC to stop soldiers from taking part in the coming erlections, saying, the Nigerian Government deployed soldiers in the Anambra, Edo, Ondo, Ekiti and Osun gubernatorial elections which held peacefully.
“Remarkably, the APC won in Edo and Osun; APGA won in Anambra, Labour Party won in Ondo while PDP won only in Ekiti State,” he said.
He said the APC’s agitation was predicated on its bad intention for the coming elections.
“The reason that the APC and its leaders do not want soldiers deployed is to be able to intimidate voters and unleash violence on the polity once they lose the elections.
“They know that it would be far more difficult for them to do that when soldiers are on the streets.
“With these dishonourable tactics and desperate acts by the APC, we are the ones who should be worried and who should be complaining but, unlike Buhari and the APC, our patience is not running out because we are committed to a peaceful election and we completely reject the option of violence,” he said.
