Edo State chapter of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) on Sunday called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the security agencies not to subvert the will of Edo electorate in the forthcoming September 19 governorship election.
The state chairman of the party, Tony Aziegbemi, made the call at a press briefing in Benin City.
Aziegbemi said the call became necessary as the people of the state deserve a free, fair, credible and peaceful election.
“Nobody whether in the security agencies or in INEC will be allowed to subvert the will of the people. We will follow the process from A to Z from multiple angles,” Aziegbemi said.
“We hereby demand, in the strongest terms possible, that INEC and the security agencies carry out their statutory responsibilities based on the oath of office they swore to, which is to be neutral.
“Anyone who deviates from this sacred oath, which he or she willingly swore to, knows that we will ensure that the most extreme hand of the law is meted out to them. Please note that anyone who deprives any human being from constituting their fundamental human rights is just as bad as enslaving or killing them and as such do not deserve anything less from the law,” he said.
He called on the parents of all the ad-hoc staff that will be engaged in this election to call their wards to order.
“Edo people deserve a free, fair, credible and peaceful election,” he said.
Aziegbemi vowed that if anybody is caught in the act of subverting the will of the electorate, as a party that believes in and promotes the right for people to freely express their choice, the PDP would ensure that the law effects the fullest possible punishment on such person.
The PDP state chairman, who lamented the incessant attacks on the party members in Edo North senatorial district during the ongoing ward-to-ward campaign, urged the main opposition party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), to show any evidence of its member attacked by the party.
While warning the APC that the PDP’s patience is not elastic, the state chairman called on the Commissioner of Police in the state, Johnson Kokumo, to rise up to the occasion.
He also called on all the other security agencies to step up their efforts before the elections, especially on the day of the election, September 19, 2020, to justify the salaries they earn from taxpayers’ money.
He reiterated that multiple opinion polls conducted by independent bodies and organisations showed that the PDP has the support of 80 percent of the electorate while other parties have 20 percent.
