Spokesman of President Goodluck Jonathan campaign team, Femi Fani-Kayode, has told newsmen that the controversial audio tape alleging the rigging of the 2014 gubernatorial election in Ekiti State is authentic and not fabricated as claimed by the President.
The former Aviation Minister made this disclosure at a press conference in Abuja recently.
Fani-Kayode said after listening and reviewing the audio recording, he came to the conclusion that it was original, but stressed that the audio did not indicate how those at the meeting discuss hot to rig the poll that eventually produced Ayo Fayose of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, as winner of the election.
Jonathan had told the Wall Street Journal last week that the tape was fabricated and would not bother to investigate it.
“It’s all fabrications. Why should I investigate things that are not real?” Jonathan said when asked if he would probe the recording.
But Fani-Kayode said at the press conference that, “We have listened to the audio clip and we make bold to say that the discussion that took place in it did not make any mention of any form of rigging in the Ekiti state governorship election and neither did it contain any evidence of any conspiracy to rig.”
He explained that, “The Governor (Fayose) and others were apparently worried that safety of the voters and INEC officials could be compromised if security measures were not strictly enforced.”
The tape revealed that on the eve of the poll, Fayose, Musiliu Obanikoro (then Minister of State for Defence), Jelili Adesiyan (Minister of Police Affairs), Senator Iyiola Omisore and others had a meeting discussing the election.
Obanikoro was audio-taped informing an army general that he was acting on a mandate of the President and that he was not at the meeting for “a tea party”. He was also taped telling the senior military officer that his promotion depended on him (Obanikoro).
