Don’t Abandon Us, PDP Begs EU, Says Nigeria Moving Towards Failed State

Don’t Abandon Us, PDP Begs EU, Says Nigeria Moving Towards Failed State

Chuks Okocha in Abuja

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has appealed to the European Union (EU)  not to abandon Nigeria as democracy would become a foregone issue to future generations in the country.

The party also described Nigeria under President Muhammadu Buhari as a failed state.

Speaking yesterday when the party received the EU delegation, the Deputy National Chairman  of PDP, Elder Yemi Akinwomi said that Nigeria had all indices of failed state because President Buhari was behaving like a despot.

According to the PDP Deputy National Chairman,  “ we have lost confidence  in the electoral system in Nigeria. There is nothing to improve in the country’s electoral system. We are going down the road as a despotic nation under the All Progressives Congress.

“PDP in the last 16 years laid the ground work for democracy to thrive.  President Goodluck Jonathan accepted defeat in t2015 to allow democracy to thrive. This is maturity in the overall interest of democracy to grow and improve.  That old order promoted by Jonathan has been defeated and we are now living in a despotic era.

“The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)) and all security agencies have been hijacked.  Nigeria is moving towards a failed state and you tell us that we are practising democracy.

“Democracy can only survive in Africa when it survives in Nigeria because one out of every five black persons on earth is a Nigerian.  EU should beam it’s searchlight on the Nigerian judiciary because when the trial at the presidential tribunal starts,  there would be a lot of revelation of electoral malpractices and rigging.

“We expect what happened in Kenya to happen here in Nigeria and heavens will not fall. In Nigeria today,  there is insecurity everywhere and poverty and scarcity of food.  These are all indices of a failed state. President Buhari is the worst President Nigeria have seen so far. Under President Jonathan,  the price of petrol was N87 per litre.  It is now 145 per litre. The foreign  exchange in the past was at N165 but now it is N360 to one US dollar. There is corruption as never seen before,  yet the APC-led government claims that it is fighting corruption

“Please don’t abandon Nigeria because to do that is to say farewell to democracy in Africa,” the PDP Deputy Chairman pleaded.

Meanwhile,  the European Union Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) will today, make public the report of its monitoring of the 2019 general elections.

EU Chief Observer, Maria Arena said yesterday at the submission of its findings and recommendations to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), that journalists and members of the public would be free to seek clarifications on the issues raised in the report.

Arena who did not speak further on the content of the report,  noted that the EU had been part of Nigeria’s electoral process since 1999.

INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu who received the report, stated that previous EU recommendations had been adopted by the commission in the conduct of elections in Nigeria.

Prof. Yakubu noted that the recommendation by the EU, that INEC should merge the accreditation and voting processes on election day, was adopted and used for the first time  during the 2015 Bayelsa governorship election, and other subsequent elections in the country.

“The observations and recommendations of the EU Election Observation Mission to the 2015 general elections were particularly useful not only in the design of some important proposals for reforming the electoral legal framework, but also in improving our electoral processes and procedures,” the INEC Chairman added.

He also commended the EU for her interest in Nigeria’s democractic processes, and assured that the recommendations on 2019 elections would form benchmarks in the reform to be submitted to the National Assembly.

“Every election in any democracy around the world is work in progress.  “We therefore look forward to the full EU EOM report and recommendations on the elections.

 “We are confident that there will be useful lessons for the commission as we prepare for future elections.

“Indeed, the report is coming at the right time as it will feed into our ongoing review of the conduct of the elections.

“Let me assure you that the commission will again quickly focus attention on the electoral legal framework in addition to several other areas of reform.

“We will study in detail all your recommendations as part of our ongoing internal review of the 2019 general elections which we hope to conclude in the next two months,” he added.

Related Articles