2019: PDP Petitions EU Over Amina Zakari
Ahead of the 2019 polls, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has reported its position on Amina Zakari, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC and security agencies to the European Union, EU.
In an interactive session with EU Election Observer Mission in Nigeria, the spokesman of the party, Kola Ologbondiyan, berated the All Progressives Congress, APC-led administration for what he called APC’s poor governance scorecard since it came into power in 2015.
Expressing worry over the continued presence of Amina Zakari in INEC, Ologbondiyan also questioned the neutrality of INEC and security agencies in the general election.
According to him, “Amina Zakari should not be found anywhere near the process. We have made our position known to INEC because there will be a direct conflict of interest.”
Ologbondiyan condemned the use of security agents in the past elections conducted under the watch of President Buhari, saying, “we believe that election should be free and fair. PDP subscribed to all the tenets of democracy. President Muhammadu Buhari is paying lip service to free, fair and transparent election.
“He refused to assent to the Electoral Amendment Bill. We are convinced that the President was never prepared for free and fair election. PDP as a party does not believe in violence, but would like the Presidency and INEC to conduct free and fair election. Outside of this, we will not agree.”
Earlier, Deputy Chief Observer of European Union Election Observation Mission Nigeria 2019, Hannah Roberts, explained that the delegation was at the party’s secretariat to assess the state of preparedness of the PDP for the polls.
According to her, “We will of course have a discussion with range of people, contestants and stakeholders. So we have to first meet variety of people.
“We have observers spread around the country in different parts so that they can see the reality on ground. The Chief observer will be coming in to observe the election.
“We can’t control anything. Our mandate is to observe and make recommendations and issue statements, particularly after the election. And finally, recommendations after the election, in order to make future elections better.”
