PDP Urges INEC to Resist Tinubu, APC’s Alleged Plot to Postpone Polls

*NNPP warns against ‘fake’ opinion poll, says result can stoke violence

Adedayo Akinwale and Juliet Akoje in Abuja

The Atiku/Okowa Campaign Organisation has  called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to continue to resist the pressure from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and its presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, to postpone the forthcoming elections.
In another development, the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), has cautioned unprofessional groups to desist from churning out unsubstantiated opinion polls capable of causing crisis in the country.

Spokesperson of the PDP campaign, Kola Ologbondiyan, in a statement, yesterday, said it was  clear that Tinubu, having been demystified and having come to the end of his political games in the face of the dazzling popularity of the Presidential Candidate of the PDP, Atiku Abubakar, was now desperate for a face-saving measure, for which his campaign was ready to derail democratic process.

He said: “Our campaign again alerts that the Tinubu/Shettima Campaign Organisation is desperate for a postponement of the 2023 elections as part of its design to cause panic, create an atmosphere of political uncertainty, destabilise the electoral process and foist an undemocratic situation on our country, having come to a conclusion that its Presidential Candidate, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has been rejected by Nigerians ahead of the February 25, 2023 Presidential election.
“The Atiku/Okowa Campaign Organisation has been made aware of how agents of the Tinubu/Shettima Campaign, led by a notorious governor of an APC-controlled North West State, were firmly resisted by INEC and other well-meaning prominent personalities in the country in a recent meeting, where the Tinubu agents had gone to canvass for the postponement of the 2023 polls.”

Ologbondiyan stressed that apparently frustrated, the Tinubu/Shettima Campaign has reportedly increased its pressure on INEC while scaling up its notorious resort to public incitements, incendiary comments wild allegations on the policy with the view to further orchestrate violence and heighten tension to justify its demands for election postponement.

According to him, “This accounts for recent reckless allegations by unscrupulous officials of the Tinubu/Shettima Campaign, which has also lined up a series of false alarms, lies and distortions, with the objective of instilling confusion and insecurity in the polity.
Ologbondiyan stressed that what Nigerians expect of Tinubu, at this time, was to humbly accept his rejection and quit the presidential race, especially now that he has refused to engage in debates or unscripted interviews.

On its part, the NNPP, in a statement signed by the National Publicity Secretary, Agbo Major, claimed that most pollsters connive with politicians to deceive the public, confer undue advantage on some preferred candidates and to deceive undecided voters to move their attention to a dubiously acclaimed winning candidate.

NNPP recalled that sometime in 2011, the country almost went into flames following alleged rigging of elections due to fake opinion polls bandied before the elections, and therefore called on the media to be circumspect in publishing what he called “falsehoods” put together by some faceless groups.
He further charged security agencies to be alive to their responsibilities by beaming their searchlight on the activities of social media public opinion polls warriors.

“It is disheartening and disturbing the character and result of public opinion polls on the 2023 presidential election being released by selfish and unprofessional groups that don’t have any pedigree, giving misleading results designed to promote certain candidate as a leading contender
“More worrisome is that most media houses have fallen for this joke that have many far-reaching implication to the credibility of the elections and the security of the country. One cannot blame the Media for reporting these fake opinion polls, however, the fourth realm of the estate needs to be wary to celebrate these falsehoods in their reportage,” he said.