Atiku dares INEC to disqualify him

Speaking in Lokoja, Kogi State, on Thursday, in continuation of his campaign, Atiku said: “We are sending a message to those people in Abuja that if you disqualify Atiku, you are carrying an iron metal in your hands and there shall be no election in this country. We must stand up to defend our votes.”

Atiku also stated that Professor Maurice Iwu, chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) risks jail term if he continues to disobey court orders.
According to the VP, “if Obasanjo has immunity, Iwu hasn�t, so if he refuses to obey court orders he will be shown the way to prison.”

He emphasized that the days are gone when candidates were imposed on the people, adding that power belongs to the people and they “alone can qualify or disqualify anybody.” He asked the crowd: “Do you want to disqualify me?” His supporters chorused: “No.”

While maintaining that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) no longer has fresh ideas except a catalogue of failed promises, Atiku promised that the dredging of the River Niger as well as the realization of the moribund Ajaokuta steel project would be priorities he would pursue for the state.
He expressed confidence in the law courts as the only body empowered to disqualify somebody for an election and not any government agency.

Earlier, National Secretary of the Action Congress, Alhaji Bashir Dalhatu, chided the PDP for not keeping to its electoral promises. “They are getting desperate. We fought them over third term. Now they are using everything. They are using INEC and Iwu is speaking from both sides of his mouth,” he said.

Faruk Abdulaziz, one of the AC chieftains in the state, described Atiku as “a champion of democracy,” just as Senator Mohammed Okhaire, governorship candidate of the AC, said “the PDP government is inept and AC has come to sweep it away. We will give you better standard of living and an improved welfare.”