Barely five days to the governorship election nationwide, former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Olabode George has warned that there were plans by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to foment trouble during the election, even as he raised the alarm of an alleged threat to the life of the Lagos State Labour Party Governorship candidate, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour.
George, speaking on behalf of a socio-political group, Omo Eko Pataki, recalled the dastardly murder of a former governorship aspirant in the state, Mr Funsho Williams, saying that any attempt to foment trouble or threaten Rhodes-Vivour’s life would attract repercussions.
The PDP chieftain who stated this during a press conference held at his office in Ikoyi, Lagos, reiterated that plans to eliminate Rhodes-Vivour before the election on Saturday March 11 may have been uncovered.
He stressed that Nigerians should be wary of taking yet another wrong step to vote for the APC government in the governorship election, saying under the watch of the APC government the country has continued to face widening uncertainties.
He also condemned a viral video on the social media, which showed somebody threatening ‘brimstone and fire’ against anybody who would not vote for the incumbent Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
“We have called you here today, on the auspices of the Omo Eko Pataki, a concerned vanguard of true born and bonafide Lagosians, to brief you on issues of salient national importance, as we head towards the final lap of the 2023 general elections.
“It is expedient for us as major stakeholders, to let Lagosians, Nigerians, and the international community be aware of developments both in the aftermath of the February 25 Presidential and National Assembly elections, as well as raise some pertinent concerns about the Governorship, and the State Assembly elections scheduled for this Saturday, 11th March, 2023.Of paramount interest and concern is the issue of threat to lives by cronies and criminal elements, who we presume are being unleashed on innocent citizens who are willing to exercise their civic rights, to effect a positive change to their lives, the lives of their unborn children, using the civilised option of the ballot box, universally approved as opposed to the option of anarchy.
“As we speak, there are grand designs, to provoke the peace loving Nigerians, whose resolve is to effect change through the ballot box on Saturday, as threats are being issued against voters suspected to be willing to vote against incumbency.
“For the avoidance of doubt, a particular video has gone virile, on the social media, which showed a weird character, suspected to be one of the agents of the state, threatening ‘brimstone and fire’ against anybody, particularly of South East extraction (Igbo), to dare come out on election day to vote for the Labour Party. In the words of the state agent in the video clip, ‘It’s either Sanwo Olu or nothing in Lagos
“To this disposition, we, the Omo Eko Pataki, say it is the most heinous crime against humanity in this 21st century, and condemn such in all its entirety.We ask, who gave these characters the institutional authority and powers, to query the right of Nigerians to exercise their civic responsibility?
“We reject this divisive politics of annihilation of innocent Nigerians, which seek to create anarchy and provoke anger of the citizenry. We wish to remind all the non-Lagosians agents of the Lagos State Government, that Nigerians have lived together in peace, irrespective of any political party in power.
“We must rework it. We must push towards a renewal and a rebirth. This is the time for us to have a change of vision through an electoral overhaul.We equally urge the electorate in Lagos to go out in their numbers on Saturday, to vote against the plundering that has bedeviled our prosperous state for over two decades as adequate security is assured to everyone out to exercise their civic responsibility.”
Credit: This Day