Johnny Aikpitanyi: Nigeria’s Democracy Is Bleeding, We Must Fight To Save Our Future

Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the recent House of Representatives by-election in Edo State,Reverend Johnny Aikpitanyi, has rejected the outcome of the poll, alleging intimidation, manipulation, and vote suppression. He insisted that while the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared another candidate winner, he remains the ‘people’s selected candidate,’ and warned that Nigeria’s democracy is under serious threat.

Aikpitanyi in an interview With ARISE News on Friday, he said”I actually contested. I was a PDP candidate,let me correct that notion. I was actually the PDP candidate in the last by-election.

“I didn’t lose. The INEC selected candidate is there, but the people’s selected candidate is right here with you.”

He maintained that despite setbacks, the PDP is still strong and will recover.
“The fact that we are going through our times and seasons in PDP doesn’t mean PDP is not going to bounce back. Believe me, PDP is the largest party in Africa, with agents everywhere. I spoke to people, especially in the rural areas. 

“I call them organic voters. When I talk to them, I see their pain points. The APC government has come to cause hunger in the land. People are hungry, and at the same time they are angry. That was one of the reasons they voted for us. But the INEC selected candidate, at the end of the day, won the election. So we have to, of course, I’m talking to my legal advisors on what I want to do about all that. PDP is a strong party, we are coming back stronger and better. Just like every other political party, there are challenges here and there. But it’s about getting the right stakeholders together to do the root cause analysis and say, this is the way forward. Believe me, PDP will triumph in 2027.”

Turning to Nigeria’s wider political process, he accused leaders of ignoring the grassroots.

“Well, what I can tell people is that the soul of our democracy is bleeding right now in Nigeria. That’s the simple truth. If you actually believe in this democracy, I know you are at the top, you might not know what’s happening in the grassroots, but in the grassroots, the soul of our democracy is bleeding. I spoke with these people, especially in the rural areas. I can feel their pain when they are describing our democratic process. So when you talk about democratic reforms, democratic reforms should be channelled from the top to the bottom. 

“During my election, you could see the governor of my state telling people he wanted to give Mr President 2.5 million votes. In Edo State, we don’t even have 2.5 million votes. Even if everybody voted for APC, the vote would not be up to two million. So why not tell people you want to create 1,000 jobs in this federal constituency or 100 jobs? That’s what we want to hear. And that’s what the PDP actually stands for. If you follow PDP from time immemorial, you know that, of course, they’ve put the right peg in the right hole sometimes. And that’s what Mr President should be looking at doing.”

On the violence and intimidation he claimed marred the by-election, Aikpitanyi described what happened in his polling unit.
“No, don’t even go there. Because even in my own voting unit, if you go to the INEC BIVAS, more than 50 people were not even registered because it was a low turnout due to the by-election. Less than 50 people turned up, and I scored 30 votes in my own unit. APC was given one. But I had more than 200 thugs in my polling unit. So much intimidation. In my unit, I had more than 180 vigilantes with guns, and more than 300 thugs with guns. Because I am the aspirant, and it’s the second largest ward in my constituency, of course, they knew votes would come out from there. 

“They wanted to stop everything. So I told people, don’t even worry about the intimidation, don’t come out to vote. I went to NUJ to do a press release and said, even if you are giving me zero votes, it doesn’t matter. What matters to me is my motto: to make Ovia shine again, to make Edo shine again. If we can’t do that now, we’ll continue to echo it until someday we do. But the candidate you are giving 74,000 votes has been rejected twice in my federal constituency. They did not vote for her, because she’s an INEC selected candidate.”

On whether he would seek legal redress, Aikpitanyi said the option was still being considered.
“So actually, I was with my principal, and we were together for more than five hours. We touched on a number of areas, and you can see what happened in the Supreme Court in his own case. We are still weighing the options. It’s not something that is completely ruled out. If you say APC got 155 votes in my unit and I got 30, after so much intimidation, then where is the democratic process?”

Rejecting the repeated refrain of “go to court” often told to aggrieved candidates, he said Nigerians must rise to defend democracy.
“Sincerely speaking, we don’t have to start joking with this issue. I’m not joking. From saying ‘go to court’, because that’s what they keep saying, go to court – the soul of our democracy is bleeding. It’s affecting me and you. People fought for our democracy. 

“They went to prisons, some died for it. I’ve been contacted so many times to join others, but that is not me. We have to fight for what is right, and the time to fight is now. Because we are not only fighting for our future, we are fighting for the future of our children, so that tomorrow they’ll remember us for the good deeds. Today, I’m remembering my father. My father actually said the democracy prayer in law school in 1999. I’m remembering him for that simple act. 

“That’s why I told the people of my constituency that my motto is to make Ovia shine again. Make Ovia shine again,”he concluded.

Boluwatife Enome 

The post Johnny Aikpitanyi: Nigeria’s Democracy Is Bleeding, We Must Fight To Save Our Future appeared first on Arise News.

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