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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