Plateau state’s Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has declared the state’s Local Government elections unlawful, citing an ongoing court action in which it is challenging the Plateau State Independent Electoral Commission (PLASIEC) over the party’s exclusion from the process.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) also called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to intervene or face a court battle.
The party’s Publicity Secretary, John Akans, told reporters at the party’s state secretariat in Jos on Monday that there were no Local Government elections in Plateau state last Saturday, but rather a ceremony” where the state government and the All Progressive Congress (APC) appointed their people to man Local Councils in the state.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) also called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to intervene or face a court battle.
The Plateau people, he stated, “vehemently” opposed the exercise.
According to him, “We call on the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC to, in line with the provision of the constitution and electoral act fix a date for the by-election of Jos North / Bassa federal constituency. INEC should come out and tell Plateau why it’s yet to fix a date for the conduct of this election having lost the member representing that constituency over six months ago.
“The Peoples Democratic Party will not hesitate to take legal action against INEC if it fails to fix a date for the election because Jos North/Bassa people are left without a representative for the past six months. INEC has gone beyond the required time to conduct the election as done in other federal constituencies.”
He further stated that the PDP rejects, “the most unfortunate and disgraceful conduct of the 9th October 2021 polls, in the name of an election. This indeed is the most horrible act of fascism.
“As a party, we are mindful of the fact that the people of Plateau are looking up to the PDP to salvage them from this political despotic and oppressive leadership.
“It is, therefore, our duty to ensure that the local government election was conducted fairly in the interest of the people who deserve a voice in governance without exclusion.”
He explained that “it was on the basis of this that the party went to court to seek justice when Plateau State Independent Electoral Commission unlawfully excluded the party from participating in the election.
“In the face of this authoritarianism, the party stood firmly against this cruelty, compromise and electoral malpractices which we know was going to be the order of the day across the state as APC and the government have lost their legitimacy based on their failure.
“It may interest you all to know that it was the resolute stance of the Peoples Democratic Party not to compromise the interest of our people and the integrity of our democratic values by allowing Governor Lalong through his self-appointed cronies at PLASIEC to play over the people’s intelligence, that has led to this imperious, and disgraceful show of shame, of the so-called elections of Saturday 9th of October 2021, which was massively rejected by the people of the state.”
He added that “indeed the people have spoken and have demonstrated that APC is not a political party, but an association of family and friends.
“The power of the people was clearly displayed in action across the 325 electoral wards of Plateau where the majority of the electorates boycotted the exercise over the unlawful exclusion of the PDP from participating in the election by PLASIEC.
“We, therefore, appreciate the people of the state for their protest of the unlawful exclusion of the PDP.
“We assure Plateau people that this antics of desperate politicians who are already intimidated and threatened by the rising popularity of the PDP would be vehemently resisted.”
“We expect that PLASIEC would have waited for the decision of the Court of Appeal on this matter. It is surprising to see that PLASIEC that is a party to this suit and was well represented in court, announced it is shameful appointees as winners when the matter was adjourned for 22nd of November 2021.”
“In warfare, a battle is either won or lost. As a party that respects the rule of law, we are pursuing our course to participate in the local govt elections at the court of appeal.
