Date Published: 07/14/09
14th July 2009. PRESS RELEASE.
LAGOS AC SALUTES OBAMA’S STAND ON GOVERNANCE.
The Lagos State chapter of the Action Congress has welcomed the admonition of President Barack Obama to African leaders who violate the democratic principles to remain in power. The party says that President Obama spoke truth to power, especially to the adamant and recalcitrant leadership of the PDP, who are eternally sworn to compromising the integrity of free and fair electoral practices for the purpose of remaining entrenched in power.
In a release, signed by the Lagos State Publicity Secretary of the AC, Joe Igbokwe, the party said that President Obama’s message in Ghana clearly rubbed in the decision of his government not to honour fraudulent electoral victories by boycotting Nigeria where free and fair conduct of election is fast becoming an unrealizable mirage. The party insisted that with each new day, the PDP is finding out that it has no alternative than to reform itself and agree that the wills of the Nigerian people must prevail in elections or get swept away by an irreversible current of history.
“We salute President Obama’s decision not to honour fraudulent electoral heists and wine and dine with apostles of electoral fraud who now run amok over the country’s perverted democratic dispensation. We applaud more his boldness and courage to rile against the criminal practice of electoral fraud, corruption and such other vices which have found a haven in PDP’s Nigeria and which has reduced the country to a pitiable and vice-infested midget in the comity of nations.
“While all agree that Obama’s snubbing of Nigeria during his first official visit to Africa is a vote of no confidence on the decadence of leadership which has afflicted and crippled a well endowed country like Nigeria, we believe he delivered a deadly punch to the irreformable cartel of profiteers that have reduced the country to a pitiable laughing stock in the entire world with a leadership that stinks with monumental electoral perfidy, extensive corruption, impunity, nepotism and all forms of vices. We are happy that President Obama didn’t mince words in telling this decaying bunch of principalities that their time is up and that they have little option than to allow the will of the people to prevail.
“Even as many people know the bulk of his message were directed at the leadership in Nigeria, we all know that the country’s leadership as exemplified by the people that make up the PDP have an infinite capacity to generate and sustain evil and all other forms of vices and may not heed such timely warning as they plan the next electoral heist in 2011. We therefore urge all patriotic Nigerians that they should gear up to free themselves from the deadly clutches of the PDP, which can do everything to remain entrenched in power for their personal and corrupt ends. We want the powerful speech delivered against bad governance and practitioners to steer Nigerians to know that the duty is theirs to ensure that the PDP is forced to abdicate the responsibility for leadership to the people, as that remains the most important yardstick for democracy and accountable leadership.
“We call on President Obama and the United States government to take a more active role in ensuring compliance with the tenets of democracy in all nations of the world, as that would prevent such needless carnages as recently witnessed in Kenya, Zimbabwe and Iran. We see Nigeria threading that path in 2011 if no concerted action is taken to stem the PDP’s inclination to adopt any foul means to steal the mandates of the Nigerian people.”
Joe Igbokwe.
Publicity Secretary,
Lagos AC.
