Presidency destroying the military, says Fayemi

Former Governor of Ekiti State, Dr Kayode Fayemi, and a member of
House of Representatives, Bamidele Faparusi, have accused the
Presidency of "polluting the military" to ensure the security arm
compelled the Independent National Electoral Commission to postpone
the general elections against the wishes of Nigerians.
Fayemi also said more revelations would come soon on how Governor
Ayodele Fayose, former Minister of State for Defence, Mr. Musiliu
Obanikoro; Senator Iyiola Omisore; Minister of Police Affairs, Mr
Jelili Adesiyan, and the military allegedly rigged the June 21
governorship poll against him.
The former governor spoke on Sunday after a service marking his 50th
birthday at St. Martins Catholic Church, Isan Ekiti, in his country
home.
Fayemi expressed shock that a sacred institution like the military
could be influenced to subvert a democratic process, saying it
portended a great danger to the country.
He said, "It was apparent that the military and presidency boxed INEC
to a tight corner by merchants of retrogression to get the
postponement to achieve their devilish motives.
"I believe what we are expected to do as democrats must be those
things that would strengthen democracy. For military to be saying that
it would overcome insurgency it had failed to curtail in five years.
Is that not standing logic on its head? You could see that Nigerians
are very unhappy.
"To me, this is more of a civilian coup against democracy because for
military to have said that it cannot provide security for INEC top
prosecute the election implies that it is hands in gloves with the
presidency. This is a travesty and a danger to our democracy
"Military is a product of Nigeria and not the father of Nigeria and
it must do everything to protect this democracy."
Fayemi, however, vowed that he and other pro-democracy activists and
all lovers of democracy would resist attempts to derail the country's
constitutional democracy.
The ex-governor said the audio tape, released by SaharaReporters,
revealing how some Peoples Democratic Party's chiefs allegedly rigged
the governorship election in Ekiti, should not come as a surprise to
anybody.
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He said, "You know that I said I accepted the outcome if truly it was
the wish of the Ekiti people because I was privy to a lot of things
that happened that put a question mark on the conduct of the election.
But more revelations will come in few days to come."
Bamidele, who described the poll shift as "provocative, unjustifiable
and suspicious," said it would be difficult for the military to
overcome the Boko Haram it had failed to overcome in five years,
within a spate of six weeks.
"Even the war-torn Afghanistan, Pakistan and Syria conducted elections
within the midst of war. So, for INEC to postpone elections just
because 14 out of the 774 local governments are being ravaged by
insurgents is suspicious and Nigerians must be watchful," he argued.
Another chief of the All Progressives Congress, Mr. Segun Osinkolu,
described the poll shift as a "deliberate infliction of injuries
against Nigerians."
In a statement made available to newsmen on Sunday in Ado Ekiti,
Osinkolu said, "It is unfortunate and an aberration for somebody or a
group of people to hide somewhere and be working on how to continue to
draw Nigeria backward when Nigerians, both at home and in the
Diaspora, are more than prepared to elect their new leaders at all
levels."
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