*Says Afenifere’s endorsement of Rhodes-Vivour exercise in Futility
Segun James in Lagos and Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to address glitches identified during the February 25 presidential and National Assembly elections, ahead of the now postponed governorship and House of Assembly elections.
APC also described the endorsement of the governorship candidate of Labour Party (LP) in Lagos State, Mr. Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, by the pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, as an exercise in futility.
National Publicity Secretary of APC, Felix Morka, in a statement yesterday, said the party respected the decision of INEC to postpone the governorship and state Houses of Assembly elections from March 11 to March 18 March, following a ruling by the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal on the reconfiguration of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) used for the presidential election.
“Further, we enjoin INEC to use the opportunity presented by the election postponement to address any gaps or hitches identified in the presidential election in order to avoid a reoccurrence in the March 18 election,” Morka said.
While noting INEC’s reassurance that data from the presidential and National Assembly elections would be properly backed up on its cloud facilities, Morka urged the commission to do everything within its power to preserve and protect the integrity of the extracted data from BVAS as it had committed to do before the court.
According to Morka, “Even as presidential candidates and their political parties explore and exercise their constitutional liberty to challenge or defend the outcome of the presidential and National Assembly elections, we must remind ourselves of the overriding duty that we bear to eschew conduct and action capable of undermining the peace of our country or imperil the capacity of INEC to conduct the upcoming gubernatorial and state assembly elections.”
The party noted that the president-elect, Bola Tinubu, emerged as the overwhelming choice of Nigerians in the presidential election, which was free, fair and in substantial compliance with the Electoral Act and INEC guidelines for the 2023 general election.
Meanwhile, APC, while dismissing Afenifere’s endorsement of Rhodes-Vivour, in a statement by the party’s spokesman in Lagos, Mr Seye Oladejo, insisted the supposed endorsement was “a laughable charade.”
Oladejo stated, “The endorsement of the Labour Party’s Lagos State governorship candidate, Chinedu Rhodes-Vivour by the factional leader of Afenifere, Supo Shonibare, would ordinarily have been ignored by the party, but that this non-event would be a disservice to the general public if the records are not set straight.
“The so-called endorsement by a group of attention seeking and politically irrelevant group of people is ominous, as they have consistently backed the wrong horse out of malice, envy, bitterness and political frustration.
“Our political history is replete with many victims, who lost elections as a result of the backing of these people, who lack electoral value. The most recent was the Labour Party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi, who’s now facing the reality of their valueless support. It underscores the group as an agent of confusion and retrogression.
“As elders and purported stakeholders in Lagos State, it was difficult to acknowledge the landmark achievements of the incumbent governor, Babajide Sanwo-olu, across the famed THEMES agenda. They sacrificed on the altar of bitter politics his proactiveness during the scourge of Covid-19, the inauguration of the light blue rail and Imota Rice Mill, massive construction of roads across the state, great investments in education, healthcare, the environment, transportation, entertainment, youth and social development, women empowerment sports, tourism, science and technology. Thankfully, Lagosians, who are the ultimate deciders, know better.
“Your recommendation of a candidate whose pedigree, antecedent and political experience is shrouded in mystery is dead on arrival. Lagosians will at the polls massively reject a candidate, who has been known not to identify with his purported heritage and needed historians to weave together some tales by moonlight to sell him to a people he cannot even speak their language.
“It’s definitely not sufficient, at this time and age, to make the exploits of his progenitors his selling points to administer the fifth largest economy in Africa. Lagosians are begging for answers as regards his role during the destructive ENDSARS protest and his relationship with IPOB.”
