APC, PDP bicker over alleged plot to use religion for votes

Opposition asks INEC not to recognise substituted candidate

THE All Progressives Congress (APC) has alerted Nigerians on a fresh plot by desperate politicians to circulate leaflets in mosques and churches asking Moslems to only vote for Moslems in the forthcoming elections.

  In a statement issued in Lagos yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the plot was in line with the track record of those who had consistently been using religion to divide Nigerians in order to feather their political nest.

  ‘’They are hoping that by further inflaming passion with the highly emotive issue of religion, they can revive their shrivelling political fortunes. That is why they have devised the latest strategy of pitching Christians against Moslems through the circulation of satanic leaflets. Nigerians should not be taken in by this cheap plot,’’ it said.

  But the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) said the alert by the APC that certain desperate politicians were planning to circulate leaflets in mosques and churches to urge Moslems to vote only Moslems in the coming elections is an unintended leak from the APC’s massive arsenal of religious bigotry and viscous divisive politics.

   A statement yesterday by the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Olisa Metuh, said the APC whose presidential candidate stands to benefit from such unpatriotic conduct and who together with his party has consistently been aligned to such insensibilities is scared of the possible backlash and desperately looking for a scapegoat.

  In another development, the national executive of APC has asked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to reinstate Wasiu Eshilokun as the candidate of the party for election into Lagos Island Constituency 1 of the Lagos State House of Assembly.

  Eshilokun, who was the chairman of Lagos Island Local Council, had sued the party for substituting his name with that of Hakeem Masha after he had won the primaries.

  The instruction to reinstate him was in an affidavit attached as exhibit by applicant, which was a letter jointly signed by the party’s National Chairman and Secretary, John Odigie-Oyegun and Mai Mala Buni respectively, washing their hands off the applicant’s travails and instructing his reinstatement.

  Dissatisfied with the substitution, Eshilokun had filed a suit before the Federal High Court, Lagos, challenging the action and sought among other orders, an order reinstating him as the candidate of the party.

  The PDP further said:   “The PDP needs neither religious nor ethnic cleavages to campaign and win the 2015 presidential elections.  Our history of consistency in form, structure and core values as well as track record of delivery, which have endeared us over the years to Nigerians have not changed. We, therefore, remain the best and do not need recourse to narrow politicking, especially when our presidential candidate, President Goodluck Jonathan epitomises the unity, progress and prosperity of the nation.”

  When the matter of reinstatement came up before Justice Ibrahim Buba yesterday, Masha’s counsel, Bonojo Badejo (SAN), informed the court of an application which he just filed and served on other parties to the suit challenging the service of the processes in the suit on his client.

  Badejo, therefore, requested for more time to respond to a counter-affidavit filed in response to the said application by the applicant (Eshilokun).

  But the applicant’s counsel, Wahab Shittu, said despite the fact that the matter was adjourned for almost a week, the second defendant (Masha) did not serve his client until Wednesday evening.

    Also, counsel to APC, Femi Falana (SAN), had initially filed a preliminary objection to the suit asking that same be dismissed owing to lack of jurisdiction.

 But Justice Buba said it would be in the interest of justice to give the defendant time to respond, but assured that the matter would be heard timeously.

  The judge then fixed February 26, 2015 for definite hearing after all the necessary processes must have been exchanged.