Soldiers surrounds Tinubu’s home

A former Governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, says soldiers
have placed him under surveillance for the past three days.
Tinubu, in a statement on Tuesday by his Media Office, claimed that
the soldiers numbering 30 were first noticed in a truck close to his
Ikoyi, Lagos residence around 11pm on Sunday.
A soldier, Capt. Sagir Kooli, who exposed the alleged rigging of the
June 2014 Ekiti State governorship election, had in a video which
went viral last week said that Tinubu's telephone was bugged by the
Department of State Services.
The former governor said in the statement that the soldiers were
initially stationed about 500 metres from the gate of his house
before they moved closer.
Tinubu explained that on Monday night , the soldiers returned in
two vans and stayed throughout the night.
He claimed that some of them alighted from the vans and walked back
and forth in front of the house.
The APC leader,who alleged that the vans were stationed on both
sides of the house on Tuesday morning, vowed not to be intimidated
by the government.
He said, "I remain resolute in my advocacy and support for the rule of
law. President Goodluck Jonathan's government has through the service
chiefs staged a coup against Nigerians and the 1999 Constitution and
now wants to silence his critics. I will not be muzzled through the
barrel of the gun.
"The guns and bullets they should use to defeat Boko Haram are now
being turned against the opposition and innocent Nigerians."
Tinubu advised Jonathan not to take Nigeria back to the days that
followed the annulment of the June 12, 1993 election and urged the
Yoruba to hold Jonathan responsible should anything happen to him.
He said, "As the scaremongering by the army continues, Nigerians must
come to the realisation that the military has abandoned its statutory
role and have now being dragged into partisan politics.
"Nigerians and the South-West should hold the Jonathan-led military
responsible if any harm or danger comes to Tinubu and his family. The
case of the Unknown soldier is too recent in our memory."
In a separate statement, the Lagos State chapter of the APC described
the development as unfortunate and an evidence that Jonathan was
abusing the military.
The statement by the state Publicity Secretary of the party, Joe
Igbokwe, noted that soldiers were used in harassing and arresting
leaders of the APC in Ekiti State during the governorship elections.
It described the abuse of soldiers as ''an act of desperation being
perpetuated by a dying regime.''
The party said while Chad and Niger Republic were deploying soldiers
to fight Boko Haram, the Federal Government was using soldiers to
intimidate the opposition.
The statement read in part, "We see the attempt to intimidate and
harass Tinubu as one of the desperate efforts by a dying regime to
arrest the forces of history and warn that the PDP and the Jonathan
presidency are struggling in vain for nothing will save them from
being thrown to the dumpsite of history.
"A nation that is being assailed with the sordid details of the misuse
of the army to rig elections for the PDP in Ekiti is today being
treated with the scenario of using the same army to intimidate
opposition forces so as to procure another extension for a failed
regime that ranks not only as the most corrupt but the most clueless
and incompetent in the history of the country.
"It is a pity that when poor countries like Niger and Chad are sending
troops to fight insurgents in Nigeria, our own troops are being
deployed to fight the opposition and intimidate the nation for the
sole purpose of forcing through the dead ambition for continuation by
a failed and bankrupt regime."
However, the Deputy Director of Information, Nigerian Army 81
Division, Col. Mustapha Anka, denied that soldiers were deployed to
monitor Tinubu.
Don't play politics with insecurity, EU tells FG
The European Union Election Observation Mission has however cautioned
the Federal Government against playing politics with insecurity in the
country.
The mission which expressed concern over the postponement of the
general elections, challenged the security agencies to support the
Independent National Electoral Commission in the conduct of the
general elections on March 28 and April 11.
The EUEOM Chief Observer, Santiago Fisas, in a statement in Abuja on
Tuesday, acknowledged the different views by stakeholders on the
postponement of the elections.
He said, "We are seriously concerned at this delay and the reason
given. Security is critical but must not be political. People have to
be able to vote, elections have to be held so that government is
accountable. We look to the security agencies to give full support to
INEC and all the people of Nigeria in the holding of polls on March
28 and April 11."
While commending the peaceful reactions by stakeholders to the polls'
postponement, Fisas said that the EU would continue to monitor the
electoral process in Nigeria.
He encouraged all the political parties, their candidates and other
stakeholders to consider the extra time as an opportunity to prepare
better for the elections.
"The EU EOM commends the peaceful reaction so far to the postponement
and will continue observing the electoral process. We encourage all
political parties, candidates, supporters and other stakeholders to
consider the extra time as an opportunity to further prepare for the
election days. More voters can collect their Permanent Voter Cards,
candidates can elaborate on their proposed policies," the Chief
Observer said.
Fisas emphasised that for citizens to have confidence in the electoral
process, the elections should not be further delayed.
"We will be here in different parts of the country observing the next
crucial weeks in the run-up to the election and beyond," he promised.
UN seeks restraint from politicians
The United Nations also advised politicians to continue to exercise
restraint and keep the electoral process clean ahead of the polls.
Its Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon, said the global body was happy
that the delay in the conduct of the elections had been accepted by
the stakeholders.
Ban's Special Representative, Mohammed Ibn Chambas, disclosed this
to State House correspondents shortly after a closed-door meeting he
had with President Goodluck Jonathan in Abuja on Tuesday.
"In short, the message is that we appreciate the pure manner in which
the electoral process is proceeding, the Secretary-General commends
the President and other political leaders to continue on that parth,"
he added.
Chambas, a former President of the Economic Community of West
African States Commission, said his visit was a follow-up to telephone
conversations the UN boss had with the President and the presidential
candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Muhammadu Buhari, last
week.
He added that the UN believed that the delay would provide an
opportunity for more Nigerians to collect their PVCs .
The Special Representative said, "The Secretary-General told me to
commend Mr. President and other leaders of the political parties and
Nigerians as a whole for the maturity that has been demonstrated so
far in this whole preparation towards the general elections that are
now scheduled for later in March.
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"We saw first of all the primaries; there were a lot of speculations
about how they will go and they transpired in a very calm and peaceful
manner.
"The campaigns started, and again Nigerians have demonstrated a lot of
maturity in the general manner in which the campaigns have taken
place.
"Naturally in periods such as this, there will be heightened tension,
heightened rhetoric, but on the whole, we have very little violence
associated with this process.
"And this is the same also with the postponement where there were a
lot of speculations about what will happen but so far this process has
been proceeding in a calm, peaceful and credible manner.
"This is the wish certainly of the UN and also many friends of
Nigeria. It is our expectations that all will continue to exercise
retraint and keep this process clean. And that at the end of the day
Nigerians will all accept the outcome of the vote of the people."
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