PDP accuses Senate of undermining electoral process by rejecting electronic transmission of results

In the wake of the Senate’s decision to reject the electronic transmission of election results, the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has accused the Upper Chamber of undermining the process.

The party stated this in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr Kola Ologbondiyan, in Abuja on Thursday.

According to the PDP spokesman, Nigerians were shocked over the decision of the Senate rejecting the demand by Nigerians across board for the electronic transmission of election results without conditionalities.

“This amounts to undermining Nigeria’s electoral process. and an atrocious assault on the sensibilities of Nigerians, who looked up to the Senate for improvement in our electoral process in a manner that would engender free, fair, and credible process,” Ologbodiyan said.

He said, “it is outrageous that the APC-led Senate, in the bid to annex the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), sought to route a statutorily independent commission to the approval of the Nigeria Communication Commission (NCC) before conducting elections.”

Ologbondiyan said the action of the Senators was a direct affront and a defilement of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which clearly conferred operational independence to INEC to conduct elections, free from interferences and regulations from any other agency of government.

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“The decision of the APC Senators, therefore, amounts to a suspension of the 1999 constitution (as amended) which is a recipe for crisis that could derail our democracy and destabilize our nation.”

Ologbondiyan also described it as preparation for the rigging of elections, which must be firmly resisted.

“Our party, standing with Nigerians, however, commends the PDP Senators as well as other democratically-minded Senators in the chamber for their resilience in voting for unconditional electronic transmission of results.

“This is in line with the wishes and aspiration of Nigerians for a free, fair, clean, and credible election.”

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