ENUGU, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA) – The Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP), has accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the All Progressives Congress (APC), of undermining democracy and disrespecting the memory of the martyr of the struggle, Chief MKO Abiola.
This is as Nigerians at home and in the Diaspora are celebrating the 30th anniversary of the 12 June, 1993, presidential election, also known as Democracy Day, on Monday, 12 June, 2023.
The PDP in a statement issued by its spokesman, Debo Ologunagba, urged Nigerians to use the occasion of the celebration to demand the entrenchment of democratic tenets in the nationās polity.
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āThe barefaced manipulations of the 2023 general elections by the All Progressives Congress and the Independent National Electoral Commission amount to an unpardonable assault and rape of democracy and disregard for the will of the peopleāthe very ills for which Chief MKO Abiola fought and died,ā the statement read in part.
Also, the party described it as distasteful, offensive and unacceptable for the nation āto observe the Democracy Day under a system that violated, desecrated and despoiled all the tenets of democracy as witnessed in the brazen rigging that characterized the 2023 general elections.
āJune 12 epitomises the struggle by Nigerians against the corrupt, manipulative and anti-democratic system; against injustice, impunity and electoral fraud, which INEC, under Prof Mahmood Yakubu, now represents.
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āIt is indeed heartrending that all the steady progress and gains made by successive PDP administrations in reforming our electoral system have been completely wiped off by INEC in the conduct of the 2023 general elections.
āOur party, however, urged Nigerians not to despair but to remain optimistic and law-abiding in their hope for a better nation, which they earnestly yearn for.
āThe PDP charges all the leaders across the country to be guided by the essence of June 12 by always adhering to the principles of democracy in the overall interest of the Nigerian people,ā the statement added.