PDP Denies Undue Pressure On INEC …Supports New Election Time table

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential campaign organisation has debunked the claims by the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) presidential candidate, General Mohammadu Buhari that, President Goodluck Jonathan and the PDP are mounting undue pressure on INEC, describing it as completely baseless.

A statement issued yesterday in Abuja by the PDP Presidential campaign organisation and signed by Director of Media and Publicity, Malam Abba Dabo said Buhari’s claim is a further confirmation of the  campaign of calumny and falsehood for which the CPC has come to be associated.          

It is indeed baffling and even disturbing that a former Head of State like Buhari, could not see the high security threat posed by the sudden cancellation of the National Assembly elections, and the need for the National Security Council (NSC) to meet and deliberate on crucial security matters arising from the cancellation.

To cancel a general election midstream in such a vast and populous nation like Nigeria is fraught with high security implications. Nigerians have indeed shown the highest sense of restraint and must be commended for their patriotism.

Jega has no control over security agencies. The President as the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and the Chief Security Officer of the nation, has a constitutional duty to ensure that a conducive environment is created for the election.

His convening of the Security Council meeting is therefore   not only in order, but appropriate. It is therefore unfortunate that the CPC saw this as a partisan act to be exploited for electoral gains.

The displeasure of our party with the postponement of the election is well known by Nigerians. We believe INEC has been given all it needs by this administration to succeed and should have avoided this unfortunate incident. We are however looking ahead to the new dates. We call on all our supporters, party faithful to again come out en masse as they did last week to cast their votes in a peaceful manner.

Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) has given its full support for the new election time table as announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

In a statement in Abuja, PDP said it respected the reasons behind the adjustments made to the time table and looked  forward to engaging our opponents in a contest that meets the best international standards of free and fair elections beginning from this Saturday.  The party however called on supporters to go out that day and discharge their democratic responsibility by voting for their candidates en masse in a civil manner  and with decorum.

According to the statement, PDP is aware of the spurious allegations of attempts at rigging made against it by opponents, describing such distractions as the rantings of those who see failure and envisage defeat at the polls.

Justus Awaji & Enoch Epelle