Timi Frank, a former deputy national publicity secretary of the All Progressives Congress, APC, has described the declaration of the APC as the winner of the Osun State Governorship election as a sham which cannot stand.
Frank in an emailed statement to The Trent on Friday, September 28, 2018, stated that the results from the false rerun exercise stands rejected and urged the people of Osun to rise up and reclaim their mandate.
He stated that true to his earlier alarm that the APC is out to brazenly rig the elections notwithstanding the presence of the media, local and international observers on ground in Osun during the rerun elections, the governorship returning officer still fraudulently declared APC winner of the fraud riddled voting exercise.
He lamented that despite the massive violation of existing electoral guidelines through intimidation, harassment and attacks against peaceful voters, as witnessed and confirmed by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, on its verified twitter handle @inecnigeria, the returning officer still went ahead to declare APC winner.
He called on the Chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu and all national commissioners of the electoral body, to immediately resign their appointment as “Nigerians and the international community have lost confidence in their ability and willingness to conduct free, fair and credible elections in 2019.”
He said: “I don’t think Nigerians need a soothsayer to realize that the country is now under full blown dictatorship and totalitarian system of government under the APC and President Muhammadu Buhari.
“We saw it in Ekiti State. We have seen it in Osun State. Democracy in Nigeria has been hijacked by demagogues. The open electoral robbery in Osun is a clarion call to all Nigerians to rise up and defend democracy in the country beginning with the demand for the urgent restoration of the mandate of the Osun people freely given to the PDP on September 22, 2018.
“We must rise up to ensure that the ebbing embers of democratic governance in Nigeria, occasioned by APC’s continuous electoral banditry is not completely snuffed out,” he declared.
While calling on the Osun people to fight to reclaim their mandate, Frank added: “It remains to be seen if the great people of Osun will sit by and watch as the governorship mandate they freely gave to Ademola Adeleke of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, on September 22 is stolen and allowed to go for good!
“This is the time for Osun people to rise up and demand for their right. This is the time for the great descendants of Oduduwa to rise up and demand for the restoration of their mandate.
“This is the time for all PDP Governors and national leaders to band together and fight for the sustenance of democracy in the country.
“Let them realize that the Osun APC’s banditry is a foretaste of the indecent and criminal path the ruling party is prepared to toe to hang onto power in 2019.
“This is the time for all Nigerians to rise up to stop the APC from taking the country back into the dungeon of tyranny and dictatorship where the freedom and will of the people will no more count,” he said.
He expressed sadness that despite the presence of representatives of the United States, United Kingdom, European Union, media and other international and local observers in the affected polling units, the APC still manifested their desperation and crudity by brazenly usurping the will of the people.
He called on civil society organizations, Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Trade Union Congress, TUC, Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Nigerian Medical Association, NMA, National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS, and all patriotic Nigerians to rise up and defend the nation’s democracy now under unmitigated and ferocious attacks from the APC.
