PEOPLES Democratic Party (PDP) has alleged concerted efforts by All Progressives Party (APC) and the President Muhammadu Buhari administration to stifle democratic institutions and impose totalitarian regime on the country.
National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Olisa Metuh, made the allegation in a statement at the weekend.
Metuh cited what he described as the tardiness in appointing a substantive chairman for the Independent National Electoral Commissioners (INEC), absence of electoral commissioners in 11 states of the federation, and an alleged interference by the Department of State Services (DSS) in the activities of election tribunals in Rivers, Akwa-Ibom as some of the perceived excesses of the Federal Government.
It further claimed that the absence of a substantive cabinet under the APC-led administration was a descent to autocracy.
The main opposition party admonished the APC and the Presidency not to trample on democratic institutions, as it noted that was the legacy of the PDP 16 years in power.
The statement read in part: “The PDP, after a thorough review of the political developments in the country since the APC took power at the centre, alerts all Nigerians and the international community that all is not well with the nation’s democracy.”
The party said this fear was derived from the facts of some conscious actions and inactions of the Buhari-led APC government that undermined critical institutions of democracy, emasculated the constitution and ostensibly set the stage for a return of dictatorial regime in the country.
Metuh, in a statement yesterday said despite claims of being a converted democrat, President Buhari had allowed, under his watch, an incessant violation of sections of the nation’s constitution, a development that had become a huge threat to democracy and the stability of the nation.
“For instance, how can this government explain the fact that a major institution of democracy like the INEC has been deliberately debilitated to the extent that it can no longer perform its statutory responsibility for lack of quorum?
“Nigerians are aware that before his tenure expired on June 30, 2015, the former INEC chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, wrote to President Buhari, intimating him that the tenure of majority of the national commissioners will expire before August, yet the president never acted, resulting in the present crisis in the commission, where more than 80 percent of the statutory 13 members remain vacant, even as 11 states of the federation are also without Resident Electoral Commissioners (REC).”
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