Laide Raheem, Abeokuta
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Wednesday, called on the National Assembly to urgently revisit the electoral bill and demanded the bill be assented to by President Muhammadu Buhari, in order for election results to be transmitted electronically.
The 8th Assembly under the leadership of Senator Bukola Saraki had proposed an Electoral Act Amendment Bill which was vetoed by the President, Muhammadu Buhari.
The PDP, however, renewed calls for a review of the bill in a communique issued at the end of a meeting of the Southwest PDP stakeholders in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.
Prominent among the leaders at the meeting included the vice chairman, Northwest, Senator Ibrahim Kazaure, National Vice Chairman, PDP, Southwest, Eddy Olafeso, PDP chieftain, Dr. Doyin Okupe and former Aviation Minister, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode.
Others included Chief of Staff to the Oyo State government, Bisi Ilaka, Deputy National Chairman, PDP, Elder Yemi Akinwonmi, Ladi Adebutu, Sikirulai Ogundele among others.
The party argued that the electoral bill must be signed so that results can be transmitted electronically to forestall rigging and manipulation by the ruling party.
It equally condemned the growing use of security agencies in in untoward manners to compromise election results in favour of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), especially during the last governorship elections in Kogi and Bayelsa States.
“We demand an urgent revisit of the electoral bill by the National Assembly, particularly the bill passed by the 8th Assembly and curiously vetoed by the president. This bill represents an immediate panacea to the crisis and debacle elections have since become in our nation.”
“It is a shame that the legacy of respect for the electoral desires of the people the PDP bequeathed to President Buhari has been destroyed to the extent that Nigerian elections no longer command respect in the comity of nations nor generate legitimacy at home”, the party stated in the communique.
Meanwhile, the southwest chapter of the party condemned the gruesome murder of the PDP Women Leader in Kogi State, Mrs. Salome Acheju during the recently concluded elections in Kogi.
The party demanded that justice be served in the case, adding that “only such firm action will prevent the state from becoming a labyrinth of violence in the nation.”
It, however, raised the alarm over a plot by the presidency to upturn the victory and mandate of the Oyo State governor, Seyi Makinde.
“We wish to reemphasize and place firmly in public view that the PDP roundly defeated the APC in Oyo State during the last governorship election, winning in twenty-eight local government areas while APC won in only five.”
“The only judgement that can remain consistent with the electoral desires of the People of that State is that which confirms the victory of the PDP in that election. Bayo Adelabu and APC’s direct evidence at the State Election Petition Tribunal, even if acceded to, cannot harm or injure the outcome of the election”, the party submitted.
