The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr Iyorchia Ayu, has cautioned the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) against compromising the integrity of the 2023 general elections.
Ayu, who gave the advice yesterday while receiving the European Union Election Exploratory Mission to Nigeria, led by Mrs Mette Bakken, at the PDP secretariat Abuja, said there was need for a high-powered EU delegation to checkmate any move to rig the polls.
Ayu told the visiting envoys that there was the need for a high-level and large-sized observer mission to Nigeria to observe and monitor the 2023 general elections, especially given that Nigeria was a very populous country with a very large landmass.
Ayu said, “We are prepared as a party to do the needful as far as the 2023 general elections are concerned. But we are worried about the tendency and capacity of the state to manipulate the critical technologies to our disadvantage. We need to pay close attention so that we are not short-changed again.
“There are security challenges in some states, I think six or so states. We hope the government will stamp out the insecurity there early enough for elections to be held there with transparent outcomes. We will no longer accept questionable harvests of votes from inaccessible areas.
“In the past, those were areas where the ruling APC did what they love doing best; bringing votes that subverted the will of the people. Even though we are going to police our votes, it’s important that the EU sends a large number of observers ahead of the elections.”
He appreciated the effort of the EU and thanked the observer mission for their continued interest in the democratisation process in Nigeria, adding that, “We want the world to know that what is happening in Nigeria is democratic, transparent and credible.”
Speaking earlier, the leader of the mission, Mrs Bakken, said the EU Mission was in Nigeria to interface with relevant government bodies and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), and in line with the EU methodology look at the possibility of deploying the EU Observer Mission for the 2023 general elections.
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