Minimah, IG deny APC accusation at Ekiti tribunal The Chief of Army Staff, Maj.-Gen Kenneth Minimah, and the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Suleiman Abba, have asked the Ekiti Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Ado-Ekiti to strike out their names from the petition filed by the All Progressives Congress. They denied allegations of being used in the June 21 governorship election to intimidate voters and APC members to favour the Peoples Democratic Party and its candidate, Mr. Ayo Fayose. They stated this in their separate preliminary objections filed through their counsel before the three-man panel chaired by Justice Muhammad Sirajo. Contrary to the APC allegations that soldiers and policemen were drafted to be used for rigging the election, they claimed that their officers and men were in Ekiti State to perform their constitutional duty of protecting lives and property of Nigerian citizens. They, therefore, urged the tribunal to strike out the petition as “empty and lacking in substance.” Counsel to the Chief of Army staff, Mr. Abayomi Sadiku, argued that the deployment of the troops contributed to the peaceful conduct of the poll as hoodlums were unable to foment troubles. He, therefore, asked the tribunal to strike out his client’s name from the petition for lack of jurisdiction since he is not a member of any political party. The IGP counsels, Chief Olusola Oke and Mr. Femi Falade, told the tribunal that the APC petition was frivolous and diversionary. The IGP, in a 15-page affidavit tendered before the tribunal, said the Force acted on the orders of the President to deploy men to provide security for the election and prevent violence by contending parties. He denied allegation that the deployment was used to clampdown on APC members or harass its leaders. Besides, the IGP said there was no complaint from any quarter about acts of intimidation as raised by the APC. He expressed regret that no party raised an eyebrow about the issue of adequate security until after the APC lost the governorship poll.
Posted on: Sat, 16 Aug 2014 06:22:47 +0000
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