The major opposition party in the country, the Peoples Democratic Party has said that President Muhammadu Buhari is against the conduct of free, fair and credible election in the country.
The National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Hon. Debo Ologunagba, said during a press conference in Abuja on Tuesday that the President’s refusal to sign the Electoral Act Amendment Bill only signifies his lack of interest in an improved Electoral system.
Ologunagba said that it was rather shocking that the President would carry out a planned assault on the will of Nigerians represented by the Electoral Act Amendment Bill which was passed unanimously by the two chambers of the National Assembly.
The PDP Spokesman said that politicians with presidential, governorship and other ambitions and are mounting pressure of the President against signing the critical bill to law.
He said that such politicians are against the signing of the bill because they want to continue on office to use public monies to fund their election.
He stressed that the delay in signing the bill was nothing other than l a disregard for the growing call for credible polls in the country,
“Having been rejected by Nigerians because of its colossal failure in governance, especially in the areas of security, economy and fight against corruption, the APC is in mortal fear of electronic transmission of results because it cannot survive the inevitable crushing verdict of the ballot box in the 2023 general elections.
“Less than a year to the 2023 general elections, President Buhari and the APC are at it again! Expectedly, the current anti-people scheme against the Electoral Act Amendment Bill by the APC administration is heightening apprehensions across the country because of furtive plots by APC leaders to orchestrate a constitutional impasse that can railroad our democracy into an emergency tenure elongation, induced election postponement, self-succession or worst still an interim government situation.
“This growing tension calls for concern as it has the capacity to spawn widespread restiveness with consequential violence, bloodletting and attendant humanitarian crisis in the country that may affect the entire West Africa subregion, Europe, America and other parts of the world if not addressed.
“This is because Nigerians, especially the youths have become more politically aware and involved, with well-founded and implacable aversion to injustice, oppression, manipulations and undemocratic tendencies as being witnessed under the APC administration. Evidence of this mood became manifest in the EndSARS protest of October 2020.
“Our party also has information about how some selfish unelected cabinet ministers, advisers and other top government functionaries with ambitions for presidential, governorship and other elective positions are mounting pressure on President Buhari not to sign the Electoral Act Amendment Bill to enable them remain longer in office so as to continue to use public funds to corruptly pursue their personal political interests.
“It is appalling that President Buhari who claims to be fighting corruption is condoning and encouraging this inordinate access to public funds in pursuit of private ambitions. The only way Mr. President can extricate himself is to sign the Electoral Act Amendment Bill immediately.
“The PDP strongly advise President Buhari and APC leaders to stop toying with the aspiration of Nigerians to entrench democracy in our country through the process of free, fair, transparent and credible elections in 2023.” He said
The PDP Spokesman urged the organized labour, civil society bodies, student bodies, professional bodies, trade unions, all men of good conscience and lovers of democracy to mount pressure on the President to sign the bill in order to avert crisis in the country.
The PDP urged the Independent National Electoral Commission to be firm in the resolve to deploy technology such as the electronic transmission of results in 2023.
