Governors on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have cautioned the Department of State Service (DSS) to stop the arrest of staff of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over electoral-related matters.
This was stated at the end of the governors’ meeting on Wednesday, August 19, in a resolution read by Olusegun Mimiko, governor of Ondo state and chairman of PDP Governors’ Forum (PDPGF).
Speaking to newsmen, Mimiko alleged that the DSS were threatening INEC staff and PDP members in Akwa Ibom, Rivers and Abia which are all PDP controlled states.
According to him, the DSS were intimidating INEC officials on issues that were before the Election Petition Tribunal in the three states.
Mimiko added that a Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in one of the states, whose name was not mentioned, is currently being investigated on ground that money for a deal on electoral malpractices was traced to his bank account, Daily Trust reports.
He said: “The forum condemns in very strong terms the alleged worrisome meddlesomeness of the DSS in Election Tribunal matters especially in Akwa Ibom, Rivers and Abia states. It is against the spirit, ethos, values and fundamental tenets of democratic norms and tradition; more so with the existence of the Electoral Act and the Constitution.
“The forum is worried, alarmed and shocked by this development. A situation where officials of INEC in these three states, (all PDP states) are daily being arrested, detained and questioned on election-related offences, even when the cases are on-going at the tribunals, spells doom and poses imminent danger to our fledgling democracy.
“The alleged interference is an attempt to stifle the opposition and this is most unacceptable. We insist that the trend be reversed. No democracy survives without a viable opposition in any part of the world.
“INEC is supposed to be an independent commission and its officials ought to be shielded from partisanship, especially at a time when the dust raised by the alleged APC membership of Mr. Lawal Musa Daura, the DG of the SSS, is yet to settle.
“There were clear cases of under-aged voters in some states and we wonder why the DSS did not investigate a single person or made any arrest. Even in a clear case where money paid was traced to the bank account of a State Resident Electoral Commissioner, the DSS is yet to order investigation into the matter.”
Meanwhile, Tunji Shelle, the chairman of the Lagos state chapter of the PDP, has taken a swipe at the APC-led federal government saying it does not have a road map to lead Nigerians to the promised land.
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