Labour Party's Spokesperson Breathes Fire, Calls for Atiku's Disqualification Over Alleged Inciting Comments
- Atiku Abubakar has been accused of stocking ethnic division between the northerners and the southerners
- The allegation was laid on Atiku by the spokesperson for the Labour Party, Kenneth Okonkwo on Thursday, October 27
- Okonkwo urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to disqualify Atiku for violating Section 97 of the Electoral Law
The spokesperson for the Labour Party, Kenneth Okonkwo, has called for the disqualification of the 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar from contesting in the forthcoming election.
Okonkwo made the call during an interview on Channels Television's Politics Today on Thursday, October 27, which was monitored by Legit.ng.
Source: Twitter
The Nollywood actor while answering questions on how the Labour Party's candidate, Peter Obi, plans to gather the needed votes to win the presidential poll, said that Obi is one contestant who has shown that he is truly a Nigerian at heart.
Atiku's controversial statement on northern votes
Recalling comments made by Atiku at a dialogue organised by the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), and Northern Elders Forum (NEF) among others, Okonkwo alleged that the PDP's flag bearer has violated Section 97 of the Electoral Act.
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Atiku had at the dialogue which took place in Kaduna urged the northerners not to vote for any presidential candidate from the southern region of Nigeria.
He had said:
“What an average northerner need is somebody, who is from the North, who understands other parts of Nigeria, and who has been able to build bridges across the country.
"He does not need a Yoruba candidate or an Igbo candidate…”
Speaking further, Atiku declared that the North needs him because he is “a pan-Nigerian of northern origin.”
In reaction to this, Okonkwo noted that by now the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) should have swung into action to disqualify Atiku in line with Section 97 of the Electoral Law, 2022 as amended.
The section states:
“A candidate, person or association that engages in campaigning or broadcasting based on religious, tribal or sectional reason to promote or oppose a particular political party or the election of a particular candidate, commits an offence under this Act and is liable on conviction to (a) a maximum fine of N1 million or imprisonment for a term of 12 months or both and (b) in the case of a political party, to a maximum of N10 million.”
Labour Party reacts to Atiku's comment
Okonkwo said:
"If there is there is anybody that his team has been extinguished completely, it's that of Atiku Abubakar who of course should have been disqualified by now.
"By going to the North and making a genocidal statement that northerners should vote for the North only."
Noting that this what was caused a big problem between the Tustis and the Huttis in Rwanda, Okonkwo stated that what Atiku did was pitching the North against the other two major ethnic groups.
His words:
"Atiku Abubakar went to the North and said northerners should support only people from the North, not Yoruba, not Igbo. That is ethnic profiling and its genocidal statement. Atiku knows he has failed so what he is trying to do now is to make sure he destroys our democracy after he has failed.
"And he should be called to order, INEC should implement Section 97 of the Electoral Act now on Atiku because that is a criminal offence.
"Trying to profile ethnic and religious groups, so it is Atiku Abubakar like I have always said, he is very unfit to be president and not only that he is unfit, he is now a threat to our democracy."
Labour Party's spokesperson leaks top secret, opens up on number of Nigerians who are Obidient
Every Nigerian had earlier been described as Obidient, the keyword for all supporters of Peter Obi, the Labour Party's flag bearer.
The description for all Nigerians was given by the spokesperson for the Labour Party, Kenneth Okonkwo.
According to Okonkwo, Nigerians who will be participating actively in the 2023 elections will not be induced with cash and material gifts at the polls.
Peter Obi says Nigeria is collapsing, opens up about those who would suffer more should Nigeria get it wrong
Peter Obi had earlier called on Nigerian women to ensure that they make the right decisions at the polls in 2023.
Obi said this while addressing the women at the Voice of Woman Empowerment Foundation's event in Abuja.
The Labour Party's 2023 presidential candidate also warned that women are always at the receiving end of bad governance.
Source: Legit.ng
