From Sola Ojo, Kaduna
The Deputy Governorship Candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in Kaduna State, Bashir Idris Aliyu, on Wednesday warned the leadership of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) not to repeat the ‘mistakes’ of the February 25 presidential and national assembly elections in this Saturday elections.
Just like many other voices of reason across the country, the LP man told journalists on the sideline of a meeting with different support groups in Kaduna that he was not happy with the inability of the electoral umpire to upload election results right from the polling units at the end of the voting.
“My message to INEC is a warning. You have done it to us once, please don’t do it again. Nobody is going to accept any rigging process again in this election.
“Do it well in such a way that people can see whether the outcome is free, fair, and credible or not. You were wrong in the last election. Please don’t do it again”, he warned.
Asake’s running mate also clarified that contrary to the insinuations in some quarters that the LP has allied with the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the State, the party and all those contesting one office or the other under it are still much in race.
“LP is prepared and ready to go into the election by this Saturday. We quite believe that we will come out strong by the grace of God.
“We are not into an alliance with any political party though some parties have sought an alliance with us at preliminary stages. We are aware that some people are mistaking the alliance of some parties with the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to include LP.
“That is not correct. LP under the leadership of our Presidential Candidate, Mr Peter Obi, and that of our Governorship Candidate here in Kaduna, Dr Jonathan Asake, are still standing and ready to participate in this Saturday’s elections.
“We are not afraid of the so-called big parties because we all know that LP is the biggest party in Nigeria today. Our main support is the will of God and organic support of the people,” he explained.
He however denied collecting money from anybody either to step down or remain in the race as a spoiler for any political party saying, “anyone who has given money to us should come out and say so. We have never looked out anywhere for any money whether directly or indirectly”.
A member of the Think Tank of Quality Leadership and Good Governance, Mr Daniel Ejembi, said: “The essence of the meeting was to intimate people about the necessity of the INEC to come along with the password to the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BIVAS) so they can upload the result from the polling units.
“What happened in the last presidential election should not repeat itself. Our interest is to fight injustice and all manners of bad governance.
“I want to assure Kaduna people that they will feel the impact of democracy by the time the LP comes to power in Kaduna by the grace of God
“So, Kaduna people, go and vote LP top-to-bottom this Saturday so that the time of refreshing can come in Kaduna in your lifetime”, he urged.