ACN blames FG for post-election protests in Lagos

ACTION Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has accused the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)-led Federal Government of using the security agencies to subvert democracy in Lagos State. It said the government must be held responsible for the 'pre-meditated crisis' trailing the just-concluded local council polls in the state.In a statement issued in Lagos yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said 'it was obvious that the highest echelons of the Presidency and the police colluded to destabilise what was ordinarily apeaceful andwell-organised election, just to serve the anti-democratic interests of the PDP in the state'.The party alleged that 'efforts were made to drag other security agencies into the mix in a desperate attempt to concoct an undeserved victory for PDP in the state, but the power of the people, exercised through their votes, won the day'.ACN wondered why the police would give a special protection to someone who was not even a candidate in the elections and the government would attempt to contract a mercenary group in the SSS outside the established authority of the agency just to give victory to a supposedly strong PDP candidate at all cost.The ACN said the alleged meddlesome action of the Presidency and partisanship of the police led to the situation in which hired PDP thugs occupied the secretariatof the Ikoyi/Obalende Council and declared victory for the PDP, even when the result was yet to be announced.'The ignominious role of the security agencies emboldened the PDP thugs to chase away officials of LASIEC, who had to relocate to a safer place to collate and announce the results. The questions to be asked, therefore, are: What is the business of the Federal Government with local council elections''Why was it so desperate as to enlist the support of the Inspector-General of Police and a mercenary group in the SSS to subvert the elections in Lagos' Does this not constitute an abuse of federalism' If the elections had been held in a non-ACN state, would the police have given a special protection to anyone who is not a candidate as it did for a stalwart of the PDP in Lagos State
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