The Niger Delta Ambassadors for Change (NDAC) has distanced itself from alleged claim by Godsday Orubebe that the APC led government was making moves to rig 2019 elections
- The group also disowned Orubebe, the former minister of Niger Delta, over the statement
- NDAC, however, urged the national human rights commission to take note of the former minister's utterances
The Niger Delta Ambassadors for Change has disowned former minister of Niger Delta, Godsday Orubebe, over his alleged claim that the All Progressive Congress (APC) led government was making moves to rig 2019 elections.
Comrade Lucky Spiff, the national president of the group, in a statement, said Orubebe was quoted by several publications as making utterances to the effect that there would be dire consequences if the elections are rigged.
He said: “The show of shame he put up at the headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and on live television, in which he bodily tried to frustrate the announcement of results, was a last resort after he woefully failed to rig the election.
READ ALSO: Igbos in north banned from travelling during election
“Elder Orubebe is aware that President Muhammadu Buhari, like our kinsman former President Goodluck Jonathan did, has instructed, all agencies and organisations involved in the conduct of the elections to allow the will of the people prevail, so there is no basis to suspect or conclude that the votes would be rigged.
“What we cannot deny is that President Buhari’s performance to date gives him a significant edge over the closest opposition candidate, which would explain why Orubebe is out to discredit the election even before one ballot has been cast.”
Spiff urged the nation’s relevant security agencies as well as the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to take note of the utterances of Orubebe, with a view to establishing his motives for inflaming passions in the country at a sensitive time like this.
He added: “We make this demand because there are talks that Orubebe’s spurious assertion is part of a well-choreographed plot to incite members of the opposition to violence and consequently truncate Nigeria’s Democracy.
“But for the professionalism of the security agencies deployed to the INEC Headquarters in 2015, Orubebe would have succeeded in his mission after his principal lost the elections to President Buhari. He is back to undertake a similar mission.
''Orubebe, or anyone that engages in inflammatory utterances, must therefore be declared persona non grata, which would extend to his (their) being ineligible to be accredited as polling agent, collation agent, observer, monitor or any other clearance that places him at electioneering venues other than his registered polling unit.
PAY ATTENTION: NAIJ.com upgrades to Legit.ng: a letter from our Editor-in-Chief Bayo Olupohunda
“We as members of Niger Delta Ambassadors for Change, and as representatives of our various communities and constituencies, dissociate ourselves and the entire Niger Delta from the views expressed by Orubebe.
''He speaks for himself in expectation of what he could make out of the people he is running errands for. Niger Delta people are now wiser because six years of Orubebe as a minister did not translate into anything meaningful for the region whereas President Buhari made progress in a short time with the East West Road that had languished when the former minister held sway.
''These are issues that President Buhari’s government addressed to a great extent, which is why he is the candidate to beat in the Niger Delta. So, if anyone plans to rig the elections it is Orubebe and his co-travelers.”
Meanwhile, Legit.ng had reported that former minister of Niger Delta affairs and a member of the Peoples Democratic Party, Godsday Orubebe, who faulted the conduct of the 2015 elections, has warned against rigging in the 2019 general elections.
Orubebe, while speaking in an interview with Tell Magazine, said the alleged rigging in Ekiti and other governorship elections would not be allowed to be repeated in the 2019 elections.
NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng. We keep evolving to serve our readers better.
We are honestly tired of Buhari and Atiku | Legit TV:
Source: Legit.ng