Politics: PDP Is Reconsidering Participation In 2019 General Elections

The Chairman of the party, Uche Secondus, stated this on Thursday when he received a Joint International Election Observation Mission fielded by two main American international civil agencies, the National Democratic Institute, (NDI) and the International Republican Institute (IRI), at the party headquarters in Abuja

Mr. Secondus disclosed that “We are yet to take the decision whether we will participate or not, we are no longer confident in INEC or in our own security.

He claimed that the party contested against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Security agencies, not the All Progressives Congress, (APC).

“In Ekiti state governorship election last Saturday we did not contest with APC we contested with INEC and Security agencies,” Secondus said.

The PDP chairman described what happened in Ekiti State as not just electoral fraud but robbery in connivance with INEC and security agencies.

He said that the party is consulting with its relevant organs in the review of Ekiti election to reconsider their position on 2019 general elections.

According to Secondus, a situation where bodies that should be neutral in a contest are brazenly helping to manipulate the process in favour of one party is antithetical to democracy and is a dangerous signal.

He said that there were clear indications for all to see that the ruling APC is scheming to engineer more crisis in the land to enable them to manipulate the electoral process in their favour in connivance with security agencies.

“For us as an opposition party, we have lost confidence in INEC and security agencies”

The National Organizing Security NOS of the party Col Austin Akobundu who also briefed the visiting international agencies on Ekiti said the election involved various electoral frauds through intimidation and ballot snatching.

Akobundu said that INEC fraud was so transparent that it produced conflicting figures of the result and had to pull it down from their website.

While, the leader of the delegation Dr Pauline .H.Bakaer, President Emeritus, Fund for Peace United States said that they were on the visit to share ideas with the opposition party on their challenges ahead of the 2019 general elections.