TheCable

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) says President Muhammadu Buhari’s refusal to sign the electoral act amendment bill is because the ruling party wants to prevent electronic transmission of results in 2023.

The electoral bill was transmitted to the president for his assent on November 19.

However, Buhari rejected the bill, saying the amendment may open up the electoral system to litigations.

The president also said the recommendations on direct primaries “violates the spirit of democracy”.

In a statement on Wednesday, Debo Ologunagba, PDP’s spokesperson, accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) of working to “rig” the next general election.

“APC has been in trepidation of the amendment to the Electoral Act, due mainly to the provision of electronic transmission of election results, which will completely eliminate APC’s manipulations and alteration of results at elections,” the statement reads.

“It is imperative to remind Nigerians of how the APC, in collusion with their leaders in the national assembly, fought hard to stop the electronic transmission of results provision in the bill but were resisted by Nigerians, supported by the courageous action of the PDP caucus in the house of representatives which staged a walkout only for the APC to orchestrate controversies and set the stage for the withholding of assent by Mr. president.

“The main reason for this manipulation of the legislative process by the APC is to prevent the electronic transmission of results so that it can continue in its culture of rigging and electoral impunities including alteration of results at collation, ballot box snatching, destruction of data among others; just to cling to power against the will of Nigerians.

“Such is consistent with the APC’s well-known machination against every genuine effort to instil credible, transparent, free and fair elections in Nigeria in the last six years.”

The opposition party urged stakeholders to “rise up” in order to ensure that the bill is passed into law before the 2023 elections.

“Having been rejected for its failures and having also self-decimated its structure across the country, the APC has completely lost the capacity and goodwill for electoral contest and as such seeks every means to subvert any process that can guarantee credible elections in 2023,” the PDP said.

“The subversion of the passage of the Electoral Act amendment bill by the APC further validates the fact that the APC is averse to the aspiration of Nigerians and does not believe in democratic principles of credible elections.

“Our party, therefore, calls on all Nigerians, civil society organisations, the international community and all lovers of democracy across the world to rise up and put appropriate pressure on the APC-led national assembly to immediately do the needful so as to safeguard our democracy by ensuring that the basic principles of transparent, credible, free and fair mode of conducting elections are guaranteed and sustained by law.

“The PDP cautions the APC to note that no matter their machination, Nigerians are determined to pursue the electronic transmission of election results to its logical conclusion and that there is no going back in their resolve to vote out the APC in 2023.”