Kola Ologbondiyan |
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Monday insisted that the
leadership of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was
under pressure to rig the 2019 general elections for President Muhammadu
Buhari and the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Kola Ologbondiyan, PDP National Publicity Secretary, in a statement,
claimed that INEC chairman, Yakubu Mahmood has been penciled down for
the “Onnoghen treatment”.
He said due to this, INEC has allegedly been taking directives from
the Buhari Presidency and the APC on how to manipulate our electoral
process at various levels.
He said: “INEC has collected a list of people that will serve as
electoral officials, including ad-hoc staff and returning officers at
the polling units, from APC state governors and candidates, across the
federation, on the directives of the Buhari Presidency.
“The PDP is already privy to how the lists were populated with APC
members and agents of the APC candidates, after clearance by the APC
leaders in various states.
“The PDP vehemently rejects this wicked plot by the Buhari
Presidency, which is tailored to ensure institutional manipulation of
the electoral process, including accreditation, voting and collation of
results at the polling units, which is the base of the elections.
“The PDP holds that by following the directive of the APC in such
dubious rigging scheme, the INEC Chairman, Prof. Yakubu Mahmood, has
violated section 29 (1) of the Electoral Act (as amended) and shows that
he is in clear deficit of the required political will to conduct a
credible, free and fair election.
“This is especially in the light of the boasting by agents of the
Buhari Presidency and the APC to give the INEC Chairman what they
describe as the “Onnoghen treatment”, and frame him, if he fails to
comply with their rigging plans.
“In the light of the foregoing, the PDP demands that INEC, within the
next 48 hours, publish the list of all officials and ad-hoc staff that
will play any form of role in the election at all levels for
verification by stakeholders.
“Any delay or refusal by INEC to publish the list with 48 hours would
be a clear acceptance that it has been compromised by the APC and this
could lead to a very serious crisis with very dire consequences as the
PDP will never allow anybody to rig it out in this election.
“The PDP wants Prof. Mahmood Yakubu to note that the fate of our
nation lies in his hands. It is left to him to decide whether he would
end as a national hero or as a villain.
“Furthermore, the PDP calls on the international community to place
the INEC Chairman, Directors and Commissioners in INEC responsible for
this election on their watch list and proceed to impose travel ban on
them as well as hold them directly responsible should there be any form
of rigging in the February 16, 2019 Presidential elections.
“Finally, the PDP directs all its members, teeming supporters and all
well meaning Nigerians across the nation to get ready to vote out
President Buhari and protect their votes with all the energy available
to them in the defence of our democracy and freedom as a people.
“If President Buhari believes he is popular, he should make himself
available for a free, fair, transparent and credible election. Anything
short of this is completely unacceptable to Nigerians.”
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