Electoral Act amendment: PDP accuses Buhari of holding Nigeria to ransom

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has accused President Muhammadu Buhari, of holding the nation to ransom by refusing to sign the Electoral Act Amendment bill, passed by the National Assembly to check manipulations in the 2019 general elections.
PDP National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan in a statement on yesterday said “President Buhari and the All Progressives Congress (APC) are quavering because the draft law effectively checked all their machinations.
According to the PDP, the APC has been deploying rigging in past elections and intend to use in the 2019 general elections.
“The amendment bill, which is in the overall interest of the nation, rattles President Buhari because it eliminates openings for major malpractices including the use of underage and alien voters, vote buying, alteration of results and manipulation of voter register, which the APC intends to use to rig the 2019 elections.
“Such provisions include granting INEC powers to utilize full biometrics accreditation of voters with smart card readers and other technological devices, which the Buhari Presidency and APC know will effectively check their reliance on dead, underage and alien voters.
“The amendment bill also provides for Instant Transmission of Results from polling to collation centers which ensures real-time results and reduces human interferences and election malpractices, thus effectively checking the alteration of results by the APC.
“Furthermore, the Presidency and APC are against the provision that makes it mandatory for Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to publish voters register online as such will end their usual manipulation of voter register ahead of elections.
PDP alleged that, “Presidency and APC are also opposing the amendment bill because of a provision which restricts arbitrary qualifications for candidates and encourages younger aspirants, as they fear that such can jeopardize President Buhari’s chances within the APC.
The PDP therefore calls on the National Assembly to override President Buhari since his refusal to sign the amendment bill is out of personal and partisan interests instead of the overall interest of the nation.