The opposing party, People's Democratic Party (PDP) has told the All Progressive Congress (APC) that henceforth, it will dismantle its rigging machine in the coming elections, starting with the Osun Governorship election, next month.
PDP said that now it has become known to Nigerians that the All Progressive Congress (APC) is solely interested in rigging elections brazenly, that it will henceforth contend with the APC, means to means scheme to scheme, head to head, shenanigan for shenanigan, in all magnitude and ramifications, to discomfit them in forthcoming elections in the country.
The party said that it has thoroughly reviewed all infractions, unleashing of violence, barefaced suppression and unabashed use of security forces and compromised electoral officers to rig elections against it since the assumption of office of President Muhammadu Buhari. It vowed never to allow APC and its Federal Government to continue to use fraudulent means to usurp power as it has done in the past, then ask the PDP to go to court. Never!
PDP reviewed the rigging of the Edo State governorship elections in 2016, the rigging of Ekiti State governorship election on July 14, 2018 and last Saturday's Federal Constituency by-elections in Bauchi, Kogi and Katsina States.
According to the review, PDP won in all the elections but was manipulated out by the APC-controlled Federal Government through the instrumentality of violence against PDP agents and supporters, use of thugs, ballot snatching, harassment, vote buying, arrests, killing of PDP supporters and maiming and also the use of compromised electoral officers to cancel votes belonging to the PDP, the alter of results from polling centers and the return of APC candidates as winners.
PDP also reviewed the open boasts and chest-thumping by officials of the Buhari Presidency and the ruling party, APC, particularly on their rigging of the Ekiti governorship and the federal bye-elections in Bauchi, Katsina and Kogi states, where alleged APC thugs were allowed to use weapons against PDP supporters, freely, and also the unholy convergence of APC governors and security goons in constituencies where elections are held to supervise the free distribution of funds to buy votes, bribe electoral officers and openly intimidate the people.
The party resolved that in as much as it remains a law abiding political party, conducting its affairs strictly within the ambit of our nation’s electoral laws; the party will henceforth directly and physically resist and confront the desperate and greedy power grabbers from always having a field day in seizing our democratic institutions and circumventing the rules during elections.
PDP also directed all its state governors, national and state assembly members, officials at state and zonal chapters and all other elected leaders at all levels to get ready to move into Osun state and provide all support necessary and germane in all the nooks and crannies of Osun state in the forthcoming election.
PDP also directed all its presidential aspirants to move all their political machinery into Osun State within this period, as well as get prepared to physically participate in the election process.
PDP said, "Our insistence as a party is for a level playing ground, a free, fair and credible electoral process, where all votes will count just as our party provided for General Buhari in 2015, that enabled him to be elected as president. However, we will not accept our respect for democratic tenets to be taken as a mark of cowardice or weakness."
This is PDP's wake-up call to all the lovers of democracy across our nation to rise in this spirit to safeguard our democracy from all anti-democratic and oppressive forces represented by the Buhari Presidency and APC.
No comments:
Post a Comment