National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Prince UcheSecondus has said Nigeria since the assumption of office by President Muhammadu Buhari has remained distressed; assuring however that the pains would be over if the party regains victory at the election tribunal.
Receiving a delegation of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, CPU, led by its Deputy Director General, Zhou Guohui at the party’s national secretariat, Abuja yesterday, Secondus said Nigeria is battling a legion of challenges especially in the areas of economy and security, saying the problems in the country were due largely to the failure of governance.
A statement signed by his media adviser, Ike Abonyi, quoted Secondus as telling his guests that Nigeria and China share a lot in common especially in the areas of population where China with over 1.4 billion persons houses the largest concentration of human beings in the world while Nigeria with over 200 million people is home to the largest concentration of blacks in the world.
Secondus added that China’s population makes it imperative that no nation can ignore her given the volume of trade involved in economic relations with the Asian powerhouse.
He commended Chinese government for earmarking about $60billion dollars for the development of Africa even as he expressed hope that Nigeria will benefit handsomely from the fund.
Meanwhile, the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are in a war of wits as the opposition PDP has now filed a petition before the Governorship Election Tribunal against the Commission alleging denial to access elections materials.
The PDP is accusing INEC of alleged violation of orders of the court, which instructed the commission to allow them access to electoral materials.
In the petition, PDP accused the Resident Electoral Commissioner in Kano, Professor Risqua Shehu Arabic of alleged contempt of court for refusing them access to electoral materials.
The tribunal on 7th of May, 2019 granted PDP access to inspect the electoral materials.
Counsel to PDP, Barrister Bashir Umar told journalists that upon granting the order, the tribunal urged all parties involved, including APC, INEC, PDP to draft schedule within which the inspection of materials begins and completed.
Bashir regretted that INEC has slowed down the process of issuance of the electoral material while failing to meet the 22nd May, 2019 deadline.
“ We have written the legal adviser of INEC, J.B Daudu, SAN to notify the chamber of the deliberate attempt to deny us the documents and to further draw public attention. The PDP governorship candidate also paid an unscheduled visit to INEC office in Kano for on-the-spot assessment, yet the condition did not change.
“That was why we were left with no option than to file form 48, which queries the disobedience of INEC to obey orders of tribunal filed on 8th of June, 2019, otherwise, they will be committed to contempt of court.
“ We subsequently filed form 49 after there was no response, for the commission to come before the tribunal to explain why it will not be punished for violating or refusing to obey orders of the court,” Bashir explained.
The tribunal has fixed Wednesday 19th June, 2019 for hearing of the PDP application.