It is clear that Buhari won’t allow free, fair and credible elections in 2019- Atiku

The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has said President Muhammadu Buhari is not interested in ensuring free, fair and credible elections in 2019.

Also, the PDP accused the president of planning to extend the service of the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, in order to use him to manipulate the presidential elections in favour of the APC.

Atiku’s views were expressed through the spokesperson for the PDP Presidential Campaign Council, Umar Sani, at a press briefing in Lagos on Sunday.

The PDP’s rejection of the IGP’s service extension was stated at the same briefing which had the National Publicity Secretary of the party, Kola Ologbondiyan, in attendance.

Atiku said it was evident that Buhari was not interested in credible elections because his refusal to sign the Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2018 despite the provisions in the bill to address election manipulations was a manifestation of his intention.

Read also: Buhari does not care about poor people in Nigeria- Obi

The PDP Presidential Campaign Council spokesperson said, ” Elections are usually manipulated at coalition centres and the amendments in the Electoral Bill is trying to prevent this but the President has refused to sign it.

” When former President Goodluck Jonathan was in office, he was pressurised to extend the service of the then IGP, MD Abubakar but he did not succumb. Election was also close then and he refused to succumb to the pressure to extend his service.

“We will not accept this now, we won’t accept anything less than what was done then. A precedent has been set, so we won’t accept anything less.”

Sani said Atiku had continued to say that he would engage younger persons with brilliant ideas and energy to drive the economy of the nation, saying an enabling environment would be created for businesses to thrive.

This, he said, would translate to job creation while stressing that Atiku, who was an entrepreneur and a good manager of humans and resources, would unite the nation and reposition its economy to make life better for the people.

He explained that Atiku would also initiate the process of restructuring of the country which he had been promising in his electioneering while urging the electorate to discountenance the alleged lie of the ruling party that the PDP candidate said he would restructure the country in six months.

Sani said it was not enough to have integrity, saying Buhari had brought disaster to the economy and other aspects of the nation because he lacked the required competence to govern Nigeria.

Ologbondiyan stated that no administration in Nigeria has been found to be as corrupt as the Buhari administration. He said Buhari’s lieutenants had stolen so much from the public treasury but said the most painful thing was that the President had kept looking at another direction each time his aides were fingered in corrupt practices.

He said, “We reject any extension of service for the IGP. We in PDP reject this. We know what the President is planning to do by the extension of service is to use the IG to perpetrate his rigging plan.

“We want to appeal to the IGP to insulate Nigeria Police from partisan politics. From the body language of Mr President, it is evident that he is not ready for free and fair elections in 2019.”

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