The Peoples Democratic Party,
PDP, on Friday alleged that the Presidency and the All Progressives Congress,
APC, were plotting to “militarize and scuttle the conduct of the 2019 general
elections, particularly, the presidential poll.”
The National Chairman of the PDP,
Prince Uche Secondus stated this when he led members of the National Working
Committee to receive the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for
West Africa and the Sahel, Mr. Mohammed Ibn Chambas, in his office in Abuja and
was contained in a statement issued by the opposition party’s spokesperson,
Kola Ologbondiyan.
Secondus alerted the UN Security
Council that Buhari was already “compromising the military and other security
forces as tools to muscle the electoral process.”
The statement quoted Secondus as
saying there was alleged, “heightened tension across the country over the
manipulations by the Buhari Presidency,” adding that “if the UN and the
international community fail to intervene and support a credible, free and fair
election, our nation may witness an electoral stillbirth, capable of triggering
violence and humanitarian crisis in Nigeria and the entire sub-Sahara region.”
According to Secondus, “President
Buhari is not preparing for elections. He is not prepared for the rigours of
any electoral exercise. Every well-intentioned politician goes out to the
street to engage and persuade the people with his or her manifesto and
policies, but President Buhari is not ready to engage anybody in contest of
ideas; that is why he is desperate to compromise our military as a measure of
limitless powers to rig.
“The world saw how our Service
Chiefs participated in President Buhari’s campaign rally. There is no way these
Service Chiefs will not be pushed to resort to self-help on behalf of President
Buhari and his APC in the election. The UN Security Council should note this
and intervene to save our democratic process.
“President Buhari has militarized
our electoral process. In the July and September governorship elections in Ekiti
and Osun states respectively, in addition to various bye-elections, military
equipment were rolled out to prevent the opposition from voting. Citizens were
freely manhandled, arrested and subjugated by security agents, who openly
worked for the APC. Today, in Nigeria, the PDP is contesting with security
forces and not with the APC.
“Also, President Buhari has
compromised our Police. As we speak, the Inspector-General of Police has sealed
the Akwa-Ibom state House of Assembly and seized an arm of government, just
like they did in Benue state in July. Our country has been turned into a police
state and there is fear everywhere.
“Similarly, our Independent
National Electoral Commission (INEC) has been annexed by the Buhari Presidency.
This is the reason it has not been able to conduct any credible election in the
last three and half years. Nigerians have lost confidence that INEC as
presently constituted can guarantee credible polls in 2019. We, therefore,
demand for the resignation of the INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu and Mrs.
Amina Zakari, who is a niece of Mr. President.
“Our international partners must,
therefore, insist and encourage a free, fair and credible electoral process.
They must also caution against manipulation and other abuses that are capable
of truncating our democracy and endangering the lives of Nigerians as a result
of a failed electoral process.”
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