The PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation (PPCO) has demanded the National Peace Committee headed by former Head of State, Abdulsalami Abubakar and world leaders to caution President Muhammadu Buhari against threatening the peaceful conduct of the February 16 presidential election.
The PPCO said it would not accept the result of the election seen to be manipulated or doctored by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in “connivance” with the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Addressing a press conference on Sunday in Abuja, the Director of Media and Publicity of the PPCO, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, said Nigeria was in perilous time, adding that “Buhari’s desperation for self-succession has become the major threat to our national unity, stability and peaceful electoral process.”
The PPCO also said the incumbent government was using the state apparatus of power to arrest, detain and instil fear in Nigerians, stifle free speech, cow opposition and Civil Society Organisations to silence so as to pave way for Buhari’s self-succession.
“This is a clear attempt to return our nation to the nightmares of the 1984 when draconian leaders forcefully subjugated innocent Nigerians under the grips of Military Decree 2 and we urge the CJN to save our nation by insulating the judiciary from this ignoble scheme.
“We want the National Peace Committee and the entire world to know that as long as Amina Zakari is in INEC, a peaceful election is not guaranteed because she has the mandate to abuse the process and this will not be accepted by Nigerians.
“The PPCO therefore calls on the National Peace Committee to immediately speak out on the impropriety of having Amina Zakari in INEC as well as insist on her removal so that we can have a credible and peaceful presidential election.
“The Buhari Presidency has been overheating the polity with its unending manipulations of INEC, muzzling of free speech and escalated clampdown on opposition and Civil Society Organizations and we insist that such must stop if we must have a peaceful election,” the PPCO said.
“The PPCO insists that there is no way peace can be guaranteed without a free and fair election. Already, Nigerians across the board are livid with anger over the foisting of Mrs. Amina Zakari, President Buhari’s relation, to head the collation of Presidential election results.
“President Buhari’s insistence on having his relation in charge of collation of presidential election results is completely provocative, a direct affront to the sensibilities of Nigerians and express invitation to crisis of epic proportion, which is capable of truncating the entire electoral process and derailing our hard-earned democracy.
“Our party is courageously going into the general elections with the support of overwhelming majority of Nigerians and they are not ready to accept any result that does not reflect their already expressed wishes and aspirations.
“We therefore counsel President Buhari to tame his desperation for power. Our nation has had many Presidents before President Buhari and there will be many more after him,” the PPCO added.
