Press statement from the PDP below...
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) says it would continue to demand the removal of the Acting Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mrs. Amina Zakari as resolved in its 403rd National Working Committee (NWC) meeting, despite unwarranted attacks on its officials by the Presidency.
The party said it is
privy to the fact that “Mrs. Zakari who has a strong relationship with President
Muhammadu Buhari and a very prominent APC Northwest governor is collaborating
with the ruling party to post Resident Electoral Commissioners of its choice to
Kogi and Bayelsa ahead of the forthcoming governorship elections in those
states.”
The PDP also alerted of moves
to use the period of Mrs. Zakari’s stay as head of the commission to tinker
with electoral personnel and materials for the two states in favour of the APC.
PDP National Publicity
Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh in a statement on Saturday said “President Buhari,
in appointing Mrs. Zakari, failed to take into cognizance the moral call to
detach himself from the operation of the electoral body thereby completely
eroding the independence of the commission.
The party pointed out
that the issue at stake is not that of Mrs. Zakari’s competence or performance
in office but the fact of nepotism and her closeness to the President and some
key APC leaders, which calls into question the independence of the electoral
body under her.
“We want Nigerians to
know that with this appointment, INEC has been stripped of its independence and
can no longer command the confidence and respect of the citizens and all other
critical stakeholders in the nation’s electoral process.
“We however find it
astonishing, discouraging and disheartening that the spokesperson of the
President will address Nigerians and lie to the entire citizenry that Mrs.
Zakari never had any relationship with the President or an APC Governor in the
Northwest. This is the height of deception coming from the respected office of
the President of our dear country.
“We ask, is the
spokesperson of the President, oblivious of the public fact that the Acting
Chairman of INEC was once a staff of Afri-Project Consortium, a company well
associated with the President?
“Is he by any means feigning
ignorance of the fact that Mrs. Zakari also worked in the past as Secretary of
Health and Human Services, Social Development and later, that of Agriculture
and Rural Development in the Federal Capital Development Authority, then under
a current APC governor of the Northwest?
“How much of Mrs.
Zakari’s roles in the last general elections does the spokesperson of the
President, who has just been appointed, know to warrant his brazen defence?
“Even where we concede
to the worn-out argument that the President has the powers to appoint any
person he deems fit as the INEC Chairman, does moral obligation not demand that
in doing so he should take into cognizance the sensitivity of the position? Otherwise
he can as well appoint his wife or brother as the electoral umpire on an
argument of merit.
“Whilst the PDP might
not be opposed to Mrs. Zakari becoming one out of the numerous national
electoral commissioners to be so appointed, we completely reject her being an
executive chairman who takes major decisions in an independent electoral commission
while having a strong relationship with the President and a prominent APC
Northwest governor.
“Indeed, never in the
history of Nigeria has there been an executive chairman of the electoral body with
such strong relationship with the president of the country.
“If therefore the stance
and choice of words of the Presidential spokesperson, which apparently fall
short of the civility of a democratic setting, reflect in any way those of
President Buhari, then there is serious question on his credentials as a
converted democrat.
“Conversely, we caution
that presidential spokespersons in representing the President, must note that
the psychology of their personal sudden flight to political limelight should
not engineer a trauma of monumental deceit to our great nation”, the PDP said.
Insisting that Mrs.
Zakari must be removed, the PDP said having in the last 16 years reformed the
nation’s electoral system to an enviable status that is being commended by the
international community, it cannot sit back and watch too early in the day, its
gradual destruction by partisan interest.
The party therefore
urged Nigerians, especially key stakeholders in the democratic process “to rise
above sectional, religious, gender and partisan biases and put the independence
of INEC, the credibility of the electoral process and the overall interest of
the nation above every other consideration in their comments and views on the
appointment.”
The PDP stressed that as
long as the Acting Chairman remains in office, it would not recognize the
electoral body as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) but as
the National Electoral Commission (NEC).
Signed:
Chief Olisa Metuh
National Publicity Secretary
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