Onuminya Innocent in Sokoto
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday said it would henceforth, resist any attempt to rig it out in future elections, beginning with the yet to scheduled National Assembly supplementary elections and next week governorship election in Sokoto state.
PDP made the vow at the stakeholders’ meeting held in Sokoto State.
The meeting which was attended by Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, his Deputy Alhaji Muhammad Manir Dan’iya, former Deputy Governor, Mukhtar Shagari, party state chairman Alhaji Aliyu Bello Goronyo, the state campaign Director General, Yusuf Suleiman and National and State Assembly members from the party, said it had become manifest that the ruling All progressive Congress (APC) was interested in rigging elections, saying the PDP would henceforth contend with such in all ramifications and magnitude, to discomfit it in all coming elections.
They said the PDP had thoroughly reviewed all infractions and vowed never again to allow the use of foul means to usurp power as it was done in the past.
They berated the action of security agencies especially the Nigeria Police which they said allowed themselves to be allegedly used by the Minister of Police Affairs, Muhammad Maigari Dingyadi.
Speaking further, the leader of the party in the state, Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, urged the security agencies to be professional, stressing that any further attempt to intimidate the people in the forthcoming elections would be resisted.
“All of you know what happened last Saturday, we were winning overwhelmingly when the APC thugs invaded the polling units at the watch of security agencies,” he stated.
“These thugs rendered most of the election in many polling units inconclusive.
The PDP therefore resolved that in as much as it remains a law-abiding political party, conducting its affairs strictly within the ambit of the nation’s electoral laws, the party would henceforth resist rigging.
“We will henceforth directly and physically confront and resist the election riggers from always having a field day by truncating our nascent democracy.
“Consequently, the PDP directs all its agents, its officials to be vigilant in all polling units to avoid the repeat of what happened last Saturday.”
He called on President Muhammad Buhari to caution erring security officials.
“Our insistence as a party is for a level playing ground, a free, fair and credible electoral process, where all votes will count just as our party provided for General Buhari in 2015, that enabled him to be elected as president.
“However, we will not accept our respect for democratic tenets to be taken as a mark of cowardice or weakness,” he added.
He added that the stakeholders’ meeting was a wake-up call to all lovers of democracy across the nation, “to rise in this spirit to safeguard the nation’s democracy from all anti-democratic and oppressive forces.”
