The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Prince Uche Secondus has said that the party’s lack of confidence in the activities of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has not changed and is even getting worsening.
Speaking when he received a delegation of the European Union on the Election Exploration mission to Nigeria led by Niclay Paus, on Wednesday, Secondus said that intelligence available to the party shows that the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, has concluded arrangement with INEC to manipulate the 2019 electoral process.
According to a statement from the National Chairman’s media office signed by Ike Abonyi, Secondus said that what happened at the governorship election in Osun State merely underscored the party’s fears that INEC is not ready to be neutral.
He said that “even though the main agent of the APC in the commission, a relation of the President, Amina Zakari, was deployed from operations department, we asked for her total resignation as she is capable of influencing others within the electoral body”.
The statement read further, “When we eschewed violence after the electoral theft in Osun state and decided to excise our right to peaceful protest, the Inspector General of Police directed his personnel to tear gas us notwithstanding the personalities involved in the protest, the Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives, five state governors and National Chairman and members of the National Working Committee NWC and other critical leaders.
“Our fear is strong that the APC and the administration are not disposing themselves for a peaceful 2019 general election and we base our position on the multiplicity of induced crisis across the country
“With all the unprecedented blood letting in the country, the President is not engaging the people and a select group operating as cabals have hijacked the system,” he said.
The national chairman urged international partners of Nigeria especially the European Union EU and the United States to bring their influence to bear on INEC to conduct free, fair and credible elections.
Secondus also wants them to show more than passing interest in the activities of security agencies particularly the police, stressing that a bias police force is an easy way to encourage violence.
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