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BEING THE TEXT OF A PRESS BRIEFING BY RT. HON. YAKUBU DOGARA, SPEAKER, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ON ISSUES ARISING FROM THE POSTPONEMENT OF THE PRESIDENTIAL AND NATIONAL ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS BY THE INEC ON FEBRUARY 18, 2019. @YakubDogara @UN @WhiteHouse @UKinNigeria @USEmbassyAbuja 
This press briefing is to call the attention of well meaning Nigerians and the international community to the incendiary statements made by President @MBuhari, and Mr. Adams Oshiomhole, national chairman of the @OfficialAPCNg at the national caucus of their party, earlier today.
At the meeting the President said: "Anybody who decides to snatch boxes or lead thugs to disturb the election, may be that would be the last unlawful action you would take. I have given the military and police the order to be ruthless....
...I am going to warn anybody who thinks he would lead a body of thugs in his locality to snatch boxes or to disturb the voting system; he would do it at the expense of his/her own life.”
In this context, we categorically deny these false claims and unnecessary blackmail and regard the President's statement as a call for extra-judicial killings considering the fact that there are adequate provisions in our laws to address electoral offenses.
These statements clearly indicate that our democracy has become the victim of a full blown dictatorship, when one considers that a democratically elected President would give a directive that is in clear violation of the laws of the land
Inview of this statement by the president, it is obvious that the military has been given a central role and coopted into the conduct of the election despite the fact that they have no constitutional role in our electoral process.
It should be noted that our party chairman, @UcheSecondus, was the first to call for an inquiry into why the elections were postponed last Saturday.
In reality, we support a genuine and transparent probe into why the presidential and National Assembly elections could not hold. We also hope that the president’s inflammatory statement is not a threat aimed at intimidating the electoral commission.
We also strongly condemn Mr. Oshiomole's false, mischievous and inflammatory claims against our party, when he said @inecnigeria colluded with PDP to abort last week's elections.
This is a very surprising statement considering the fact that the Federal government controls every institution and agency involved in the electoral process, including the CBN, Nigerian Airforce, Aviation authorities amongst others.
From our position, we strongly believe that the deliberate delivery of election materials to the wrong electoral centers, cancellation of flights, and other actions that undermined the logistics arrangement of INEC were deliberately done to sabotage and manipulate the process.
We are also very familiar with the pressure brought on @inecnigeria by top government officials and @OfficialAPCNg leaders to go ahead with the elections despite not being adequately prepared for the election.
We are also aware the APC wanted the INEC chairman to conduct elections in some states and postpone in other states so as to have staggered elections. It should also be noted that the areas that would have been affected by inadequate delivery of materials were PDP strongholds
It is important to note that the APC in its usual manipulative style is now shifting the blame on INEC leadership while absolving itself and the other institutions of government under its control of any blame.That is the common strategy that super villains always employ.
Obvioulsy, we know they are doing everything humanly possible to discredit @inecnigeria, remove the chairman and stall the process conscious of the fact that they cannot win this election.
Embarrasingly, this is the first time that we have witnessed a ruling party play victim, which is a clear indication that they have lost the plot.
Evidently, their recent actions and statements clearly show they are panicking and desperate to cling onto power, even when the people have rejected them.
