AREWA YOUTHS CONDEMNS APC, INEC OVER SHAM PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS

Yerima Shettima

"This election  is a sham and it should not only be roundly condemned but outrightly rejected"....
Arewa Youths Consultative Forum

The Arewa Youth Consultative Forum has described the just concluded 23rd Feb. 2019 Presidential elections as a charade.

In a statement issued Thursday, National President of the AYCF, Alhaji Yerima Shettima noted that his group, has observed with deep regrets how the Presidential and National Assembly elections were conducted.

Shettima, in the statement, disclosed that AYCF was disappointed with INEC and the ruling party for their clear case of connivance.

"We wish to express our disappointment with INEC and the ruling APC for their clear case of connivance. And wish to state as follows :

1. That  INEC, in acting out the script  of the ruling APC deliberately
 postponed  for elections  to create room for easy manipulation by the government  in power

2. That thugs were used  to defend over-voting,  especially  in the some southern States, to enable the ruling party do whatever it wanted  with the result sheets

3. That in the Northern parts of the country, voting was either delayed or voters' list was compromised  in favor of the ruling APC.  This is  a bad precedent  for free and fair elections

4. That voters other than those of the ruling party were intimidated openly by agents of the ruling party in connivance with other election official

5. In nearly 90% cases the list of registered  voters were far below the number of votes  cast across the North and Southern  parts of this country

6. That there has so far been pedestrian  arguments in a subtle  attempt to justify the intimidation and harassment of voters in almost all the polling units in the country

7. There were way too many election irregularities to warrant the false claim of electoral victory by President  Muhammadu Buhari and the ruling APC.

In its conclusion, the statement by Arewa Youth Consultative Forum noted that, "on the whole, we find this election an unacceptable means of the imposition of an incumbent President and the intimidation of opposition elements who are in support  a candidate like Atiku Abubakar of the PDP".

"This election  is a sham and it should not only be roundly condemned but outrightly rejected".

"We call on all lovers of Nigeria democracy to take all legitimate steps in ensuring that a more transparent  step is taken in the spirit of fairness and balance, by letting the true winner be. We cannot afford any compromises at this point in the history  our nation", Alhaji Yerima Shettima stated.