Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja
The Senator Ali Modu Sheriff-led Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has asked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) not to postpone the Osun West senatorial by-election slated for Saturday July 8.
In a statement issued yesterday by the spokesman of the party, Hon Bernard Mikko, PDP said there are “subterranean efforts by the government of Osun State to precipitate the postponement of the Osun West senatorial by-election from Saturday July 8, to an ostensibly preferred and predetermined date.â€
The statement referred to a meeting of stakeholders last week at the Osun West senatorial headquarters in Iwo, where Mr. Emmanuel Ademusire who is the INEC state Director of Administration assured all the political parties that the July 8 date for the Osun West senatorial byelection was irrevocably sacrosanct.
It also quoted the INEC scribe as saying that they had deployed five commissioners to oversee the election.
“We are therefore constrained to warn that any attempt to yield to the antics of these undemocratic forces using spurious or fake security report as an excuse will not be tolerated.
“Nigerians are sufficiently enlightened to understand the antics of desperate politicians that may want to use their privileged positions to undermine our electoral process and put our democracy in peril.
“The legitimacy of our leaders is hinged on a credible, fair and transparent electoral process and once the confidence of the electorate is lacking in the electoral umpire, our hard earned democracy will be in jeopardy.
“While it is our hope that the electoral body will not yield to any subterranean blackmail to shift the date of the election from Saturday July 8, it has become imperative for civil society organisations, pro-democracy activists, election monitoring groups and members of the diplomatic community to be vigilant and ensure that all stakeholders abide by the rules and refrain from changing the goal post at the middle of the game,†Mikko said.
