The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has threatened legal action over the amendment of the electoral act by the National Assembly that generated controversy across the country.
The amendment to section 52(3), which has to do with the electronic transmission of results, almost tore the Senate apart on Thursday.
Section 52(3) as recommendation provides:
“The commission may transmit results of elections by electronic means where and when practicable.”
The amendment to Section 52(3) agreed on after voting is: “The commission may consider electronic transmission of results provided the National network coverage is adjudged to be adequate and secure by the National Communication Commission.”
The National Chairman of PDP, Prince Uche Secondus, described the amendment backed by All Progressives Congress (APC) senators as scam.
He said: “The PDP will take all necessary legal steps to ensure that this APC scam is not allowed to stand in any way. We therefore call on all lovers of democracy who see free, fair and transparent election as vital, to stand up against this fraud.”
He told newsmen that his party has mandated its members to take legal action.
He said:”We have mandated our members, we are in consultation with our members to take every necessary legal action to make sure that Nigerian will have the best of the electoral law in terms of amendment. It must be very transparent, and we must ensure that it is carried out by the public and INEC. It happened in Edo and Ondo where election results were transmitted, it was seamless. There was no confusion there, there was no burning down of houses, people didn’t gather at a spot. If this electoral laws are amended to suit Nigerians not to suit a particular political party, you will see that the insecurity that is attached with elections, rigging and all that will be totally eliminated.”
Puncturing what happened at the National Assembly over the amendment, Secondus noted “how a representative of the people enjoying their mandate blatantly turned their back on them and toed the line of a political party interest that is clearly against the people.
“By the choice of the All Progressives Congress, APC to put party interest before National interest, they have vividly murdered democracy by the actions of their members in the two chambers of the National Assembly yesterday and today. For us in PDP, today is a Black Friday for democracy.
“It’s an established fact in all democracies world wide that a free, fair and credible election is the tripod of any democracy. The action of APC in swaying their members against Electronic Transmission of Election Results clearly undermines and shows in unmistaken terms that APC is not ready to face the Nigerian electorates.”
Secondus said that the action also shows that the dilly-dallying of APC all the while in amending the Electoral Act is deliberate as they never wanted from inception to do anything that will deepen democracy in our country.
558400cookie-checkPDP Threatens Legal Action Over Electoral Act Amendment
