By; SUNDAY ODE, Abuja.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Thursday described the postponement of the Edo governorship election earlier scheduled for Saturday, September 10 as illegal, insisting that the dixed date is sacrosanct.
In a statement issued soon after the Independent National Electoral Commisiiion (INEC) announced the shift, National Publicity Secretary of the Senator Ahmed Makarfi-led National Caretaker Committee of the PDP, Prince Dayo Adeyeye, in Abuja, the opposition party argued that the security reasons cited for the postponement were flimsy.
According to PDP, the real motive for the shift of the election date was to enable the ruling APC buy time to assuage its imminent election defeat.
The statement read: “Sequel to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)’s decision this afternoon to go ahead with the Edo State Gubernatorial Election as scheduled; and their immediate reversal of that patriotic stance, the Leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) led by
Senator Ahmed Mohammed Makarfi, CON, has reiterated its earlier position that the Saturday September 10, 2016 election date should remain sacrosanct since there is no tangible reason(s) evident to tamper with the election.
“The call for the postponement of the election by top hierarchy of the security agencies predicated on alleged security threat was a less than ingenious attempt to buy time for the APC which is clearly heading for a major electoral catastrophe on Saturday.
“It is shameful and indeed a major constitutional breach for the security agencies to act in concert with the APC to truncate an Election that had been planned for months. Nigerians were not deceived by the obvious concoctions of the security agencies whose performances during elections have been less than average since the advent of the Buhari Administration. Indeed they have become instruments in the hands of the ruling party to harass, intimidate and punish opponents” Prince Adeyeye declared.
He added: “The time may be ripe now for President Buhari and the National Assembly to conduct a non-partisan holistic review and investigation of the national security apparatus to save our fledging democracy.
“The postponement of the election by INEC is illegal, unconstitutional and a breach of the peoples’ trust in the Commission and the security agencies. It is a coup against the people of Edo State in particular and Nigerians in general. Since APC assumed power, virtually all elections conducted by INEC have either been inconclusive or truncated. Saturday’s election in Edo State must be an exemption.
“We will not accept anything less than free, fair and transparent election conducted and concluded the same day. INEC must rise to the occasion to restore the confidence of Nigerians in its operations. Edo is a test case. With the way INEC is performing, how are we sure that it would be able to handle the 2019 national elections. Our democracy is under a serious threat from the APC and its Gestapo security agencies.”
“Finally, we call on all stakeholders – The Media, civil society organizations, all political parties and indeed all Nigerians and the international community to rise to defend our hard earned democracy from the assault being unleashed on it by the APC Government.”
