Date Published: 06/04/09
3rd June 2009. Press release.
LAGOS AC CONDEMNS INEC SECRECY OATH.
The Lagos State chapter of the Action Congress has added its voice to the condemnation of the leadership of INEC for forcing its staff to swear to an oath of secrecy. The party says that what is happening in INEC is a demonstration of the fact that Nigeria is being dragged to the dark ages by unscrupulous characters that are desperate to hide the dirty and shady dealings that have become the primary duty of INEC under Maurice Iwu.
In a release in Lagos, signed by the Lagos State Publicity Secretary of the AC, Joe Igbokwe, Lagos AC maintained that every Nigerian knows that the intent of the secrecy oath is dubious as whoever has nothing to hide fears no disclosure. It insists that Iwu is a bad and very negative influence on not only the badly desecrated electoral system but on what remains of the country’s value system and must be eased off because he causes greater damage to the country.
“There is no doubt that what informs Iwu’s latest gambit is informed by the macabre manner his INEC leadership manipulated the latest Ekiti re-run election as well as the shocking N250 million bribery scandals that purchased that election for the PDP. It is obvious that he is desperate to cover the many foul emissions from his INEC noted universally as the purveyor of electoral fraud and shameless racketeering that has almost completely rubbished the country’s electoral system.
“We hold it as a self-evident fact that Iwu’s INEC has so many cans of worms that it needs to invent newer means of shutting its staff off from revealing the so many dirty secrets that threaten to overflow as INEC under Iwu refuses to reform its putrid image and allow for a free and fair electoral process. There is no doubt that Iwu’s INEC is being overstretched by its efforts to cover its messy deals and many acts of fraud. With the failure of its well-financed propaganda to justify bizarre electoral fraud, Iwu is forcing INEC to swear to oaths of secrecy with the hope that this will provide him a cover for greater misdemeanors in the future. He would be disappointed at the end of the day because Nigerians would never submit to the antics of the racketeers that have been brought to visit vice and evil on the country’s body polity.
“What all these portend however is that Iwu is becoming dangerously desperate in his do-or-die battle to remain on a position he has so desecrated and with which he had greatly ridiculed the country and brought shame and odium on Nigerians. While we blame the Yar’Adua presidency for tolerating the licentiousness of Iwu and the INEC he heads, we ask Nigerians to rise up en mass to demand for probity in the conduct of their public offices. We re-state our demand as well as the immediate removal of Iwu and his prosecution for the hefty corruption scandal and electoral scam that attended the sham 2007 elections.”
Joe Igbokwe.
Publicity Secretary,
Lagos AC.
