By Myke Uzendu, Abuja
The main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has argued that President Muhammadu Buhari and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) are reluctant to bequest instruments that will ensure free, fair and reliable electoral process in the country.
The party lamented that despite all the corrections made on the returned Electoral bill by the National Assembly for as much as six times, in favour of the misgivings of the President, he is yet to append his signature to the all important document.
Addressing a World Press Conference at the party’s headquarters on Tuesday in Abuja, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Hon. Debo Ologunagba accused the ruling party of erecting road blocks to the passage of the Electoral Act Amendment Bill due to the provision for electronic transmission of election results from the polling units which will eliminate APC’s plans to manipulate the system, militarize the process, alter election results at collation centers and foist itself into power against the Will of Nigerians.
According to the PDP, the refusal of the President to sign the Electoral Act Amendment Bill is nothing short of a premediated and contrived “political abortion” of the will of the people as represented by the elected 109 Senators and 360 members of the House of Representatives who unanimously passed the Amendment Bill in the first instance.
“The current stance of Mr. President further validates our Party’s position that the Buhari-led APC government is averse to free, fair, transparent and credible elections in our country, particularly the 2023 general elections.
“Mr. President’s refusal to sign the Electoral Act Amendment Bill constitutes an obstruction to democratic principle of credible elections. Any electoral process which does not guarantee the free, fair and transparent transmission of election results from the polling units can only result in a government that lacks credibility and legitimacy which amounts to an “unconstitutional change of government” against the Will of the people” the opposition party stated.
The PDP advised President Buhari and APC leaders to stop toying with the aspiration of Nigerians but entrench democracy in the country through the process of free, fair, transparent and credible elections in 2023.
The party said that it’s concerns rises from the fact that Nigerians, especially the youths have become more politically aware and have developed strong aversion to injustice, oppression, manipulations and undemocratic tendencies as being witnessed under the APC administration which according to PDP, became manifest in the EndSARS protest of October 2020.
“The current anti-people scheme against the Electoral Act Amendment Bill by the APC administration is heightening apprehensions across the country of furtive plots by APC leaders to orchestrate a constitutional impasse that can railroad our democracy into an emergency tenure elongation, induced election postponement, self-succession or worst still an interim government situation. “This growing tension calls for concern as it has the capacity to spawn widespread restiveness with consequential violence, bloodletting and attendant humanitarian crisis in the country that may affect the entire West Africa subregion, Europe, America and other parts of the world if not addressed” the party lamented.
The PDP said that there can be no justification for the continuing delay in assenting to the re-worked Electoral Act Amendment Bill which has adequately taken care of Mr. President requests.
It called on all Nigerians, the Organized Labour, Civil Society, Student Bodies, Professional Bodies, Trade Unions and all lovers of democracy across the world to rise up and impress it upon President Buhari to immediately sign the Electoral Act Amendment Bill so as to avert an impending leadership and looming electoral fraud.
The Party also calls on the International Community and friends of Nigeria including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, United Arab Emirates, Russia, France among others; the European Union (EU), African Union (AU), Commonwealth of Nations and the United Nations (UN) to immediately bear diplomatic and political pressure on President Buhari, APC leaders and senior government officials who are intent on derailing the nations democratic culture.
The PDP charged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to stand on the side of democracy, resist the APC and get prepared to use technology to ensure the direct transmission of election results from the polling units in the 2023 elections.
