2019: Coalition for Nigeria accuses Atiku of desperation

AS the presidential elections edge closer, the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) desperation for power is becoming even more glaring.

With the reported alliance gaining grounds last week, the Coalition for Nigeria (CN) has echoed that it is no mere idle talk neither is it some sort of conspiracy theory that the PDP hired foreign help to win the election.

The group made this known in a press statement on Tuesday in Lagos.

According to Mr Dipo Samuel, its Secretary-General, Mr Atiku has already released funds to facilitate his secret mission.

“When the then PDP aspirant, Atiku Abubakar, hired the United States firm and lobbyist, Brian Ballard, to work for his emergence, we expressed concerns as to why the same man that helped US President Donald Trump to engage Russians in meddling with US elections has been brought into Nigeria. It is now glaring that Brain Ballard is not here to consult and deliver the transparent strategy.

“As part of Ballard’s strategies being implemented, we further gathered that certain internal changes have been made at INEC to strategically position certain officials in posts that will enable them to compromise that organisation’s cybersecurity. These officials are known to be PDP sympathisers. Their brief is to make sure that the security upgrades that will ward off attempts to hack the Commission’s servers are not implemented. The plan is for them to feign administrative lapses and inefficiency that will ensure such patches are not addressed.

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“We understand that Ballard’s contract is for a period of one year when the elections were mere months away at the time he was engaged. The reason is that he is meant to stay on to coordinate a campaign against the government after the PDP has lost the election. This is really worrisome because such a damaging campaign played a critical role in depressing Nigeria’s economy by discouraging investors’ interest in Nigeria. The PDP is again geared to repeat the same attack on the viability of the country.

“When the possibility of Russia’s meddling in the US elections was first raised it was dismissed as mere suspicion by many while others placed such allegation in the realm of fiction. The picture is clearer today and there have been conclusive proofs that Russia did meddle in the process to make Donald Trump win to emerge president. What is still unfolding is the extent of damage done to the US electoral and political process as the fallouts from the interference still reverberate in that country. It has produced outcomes that are directly threatening confidence in the process while questions are seriously being asked about how to get out of the bind the incident has plunged the country into.

CAN, however, urged INEC to take some measures.

“INEC must immediately take steps to guarantee the integrity of its servers and protect them from intrusions and cyber-attacks. The electoral body must also vet afresh all those that occupy sensitive positions and senior officials with decision-making capacity. Once it has done the needful, INEC must then brief Nigerians to reassure citizens that it will not allow Russia to repeat the stunt it pulled in the United States here in Nigeria.

“The federal government must immediately step up diplomatic efforts to get assurances from Russia that it will not, as a nation, interfere in the conduct of Nigeria’s elections while also warning its nationals against taking briefs that could jeopardize relations with Nigeria. The government must also work with other countries to put the pressure on Russia.

“The Nigerian Immigration Service in conjunction with the Department of State Service (DSS) should intensify the screening of aliens arriving the country to ensure that free passage is not given to potential hackers to come and do damage here. The screening should take into account aliens that might have already set up in the country before this discovery was made and those from countries that are proxies from Russia.