Election: PDP urges electorate to exercise restraint 

As Nigerians go to the polls to elect their national leaders this Saturday, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has urged the electorate to exercise restraint and not be provoked.

This comes as the main opposition party has called on the electorate to visit the polls with lunch box and water to the polls and prepare for a long day.

PDP National Chairman, Uche Secondus, stated this at a press conference in Abuja on Thursday.

He urged the military not to carry out unlawful orders, even as he cautioned soldiers not to be dragged into partisan politics.

While accusing the military of reinforcing in PDP strongholds in Kwara, Kano and Rivers States, he said any act of extra-judicial killings will attract the attention of the International Criminal Court (ICC).

He said: “When they drag military institutions into politics, the aim is obvious to destroy that institution the way it is doing to the legislature and the Judiciary.

“But I urge you Nigerians to refuse to be intimidated or provoked but remain focussed and fix your eyes on the ball, which is victory which is coming on Sunday.

“May I appeal to all who will play roles in this election from INEC, to security agencies and political party agents to remember that this election is about Nigeria, it’s about rescuing this country, it’s about sustaining our democracy”.

Also in another press conference, Osita Chidoka, PDP Campaign Spokesperson and Chairman, Strategy Committee of the Presidential Campaign, said the party has drawn lessons from the ‘Osun Playbook.’

The party, he said, has remobilised over 176,000 party agents for the rescheduled elections this Saturday.

He said: “Local and international Observer groups have set up various models of vote tabulation that will enhance the credibility and validity of the election. All parties have had the privilege of reviewing the official PVT system’s potential to scientifically and statistically validate the election within an acceptable margin of error.

“Our innovative Simultaneous Vote Count System (SVC) has been deployed to ensure that the result of the polling units remain the trusted source to validate the final collated results.

“The SVC is a crisis de-escalation mechanism that will assure that PDP members accept the results of a free and fair election and that the country remains peaceful and respectful of its differences”.