The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, on Thursday reacted as the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, appointed President Muhammadu Buhari’s niece, Amina Zakari as its head of Collation Center for the 2019 elections.
By her new appointment, Zakari, who was once the Commission’s Director of Operations, will be responsible for announcing the result of the presidential election.
Reacting to her appointment, PDP reiterated its recent claim that President Muhammadu Buhari was determined to rig himself back into power, hence the appointment of Zakari.
In a press statement issued by its
spokesperson, Kola Ologbondiyan, the former ruling party said: “We have
called you up again today to alert Nigerians of another heinous
machination by the Buhari Presidency and
the Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC) to subvert the will of the people and rig
the February 16, Presidential election.
“You will recall that we
have been raising the flag on how the Buhari Presidency, the All
Progressives Congress (APC) and some individuals at the echelon of INEC
have been seeking ways to compromise our electoral
processes and open
the way for the allocation of fictitious votes to President Muhammadu
Buhari, having realized that he cannot win in a credible, free and fair
polls.
“Today, we have been informed that the Chairman of INEC,
Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, apparently in furtherance of the plots to rig the
Presidential election, has appointed Mrs. Amina Zakari, a blood relation
(niece) of
the APC candidate, President Muhammadu Buhari, as the
Chairperson of INEC Advisory Committee and Presidential election
Collation Center
Committee.
“The Peoples Democratic Party
Presidential Campaign Organization (PPCO) outrightly, vehemently and
unequivocally rejects, in its entirety, the
appointment of Mrs. Amina
Zakari, President Buhari’s blood relation, as the head of the collation
of results, in the same election in which his
uncle, President Buhari, as a candidate, has displayed a huge desperation to win.
“The
appointment of Mrs. Amina Zakari, who had been openly accused in
various quarters as being the link person between INEC and the Buhari
Presidency
in their schemes to rig the election for President Buhari, constitutes a
direct violence against the Presidential election and the PDP will not,
in any way, whatsoever, accept it.
“This is the same Amina
Zakari, who headed the ICT Department of INEC at the time that
department was accused of manipulating the INEC voter register to
accommodate fictitious, underage and alien voters,
particularly, in remote areas where they plan to allocate and announce conjured votes for President Buhari and the APC.
“It
will interest Nigerians to note that this is the same Amina Zakari that
was alleged to have played some roles in the 2018 governorship election
in Osun state, where the electoral processes were flagrantly
abused.
“In
appointing Mrs. Amina Zakari to head the collation of this Presidential
election, Prof. Yakubu has confirmed that he has been compromised and
that he has already succumbed to pressure by the Buhari Presidency and
APC to open the way for the self-succession of President
Buhari.
“The fact remains that there is no way Amina Zakari will not allocate votes to her blood relation, President Buhari, whom Nigerians have indicated clearly that they are not ready to return to office as President.
“With Amina Zakari at the head of results collation, there is no way votes cast by Nigerians will count.
“We,
therefore, call on all Nigerians and particularly the National Peace
Committee to note that with the appointment of Amina Zakari, as head the
collation
of Presidential results, the INEC Chairman is setting the stage for a
very huge political crisis, which is capable of derailing our democratic
process.
“We also urge the United Nations and other global democratic institutions to take copious note of this noxious appointment by the INEC Chairman.
“If the INEC Chairman wants a peaceful Presidential election, he should, with the speed of light, reverse himself on this appointment.
“In fact, the PPCO reiterates its
position that for us to have a peaceful election, Mrs. Amina Zakari
should not be seen anywhere near any of the 2019 election processes, not
to talk of being involved in the collation
of Presidential results.”
PDP,
however, assured that it remained “committed to a peaceful and credible
process, but we will never, in any way, allow anybody to use any means,
under any guise
whatsoever, to rig us out in this election. Not
after it is clear that Nigerians have attained a consensus to rally
behind our Presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, as their next
President.
“All we ask for is a free, fair, credible and transparent electoral process in which the votes of Nigerians will not only count but will be seen to have counted.
“Like Mr. President said during his 2019 budget presentation at the National Assembly, the world is watching us,” the statement added.
