The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Prince Uche Secondus, says the party does not have confidence in the activities of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) especially as the 2019 election year approaches.
Rather than reducing, he said that the lack of confidence in the commission was getting deeper.
Speaking when he received a delegation of the European Union Election Exploration Mission to Nigeria led by Niclay Paus, who visited him in Abuja on Wednesday, Secondus said that intelligence available to the party allegedly showed that the ruling All Progressives Congress had concluded arrangements with INEC to manipulate the electoral process.
Secondus said that what happened during the governorship election in Osun State in September merely underscored the party’s fears that INEC was not ready to be neutral in 2019.
He said that the party was happy that the alleged main agent of the APC in the commission, who he also said was a relation of the President, Amina Zakari, was redeployed from the Operations Department.
However, he said the PDP would want her to resign, adding that her continued stay in office would be detrimental to the peaceful conduct of the elections.
He said, “When we eschewed violence after the electoral theft in Osun State and decided to exercise our right to peaceful protest, the Inspector General of Police directed his personnel to tear-gas us notwithstanding the personalities involved in the protest.
“Such personalities included the President of the Senate, Speaker of the House of Representatives, five state governors, myself, members of the National Working Committee and other critical leaders of the party.
“Our fear is strong that the APC and the administration are not favourably disposed to a peaceful 2019 general elections and we based our position on the multiplicity of induced crises across the country.
“With all the unprecedented bloodletting in the country, the President is not engaging the people and a select group operating as a cabal has hijacked the system.”
Secondus urged international partners of Nigeria, especially the European Union and the United States of America to bring their influence to bear on the INEC to conduct free, fair and credible elections.
He also asked them to show more than passing interests in the activities of security agencies particularly the Police.
