Former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Comrade Timi Frank, has called on the National Peace Committee headed by the former Head of state, retired Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, to prevail on President Muhammadu Buhari to urgently sign into law the 2018 Electoral Act 2018 as amended.
Frank believes that the new Electoral Act will not only ensure a free, fair and credible election, but will also help reduce the minimum level cases of electoral fraud and violence which has often characterized elections in this part of the world.
In a statement signed in Abuja on Monday, the Political activist accused the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of plotting to rig the forthcoming elections, adding that the refusal to signing the Electoral Act by the President is also part of the plot, even at a time when the act had gone through its 3rd amendment process in the NASS, with all stakeholders approving of the process
According to Frank, Gen. Abdusalam Abubakar-led committee did a very good job in 2015 which he said led to the peaceful handing-over by the former President Goodluck Jonathan when the later lost the election.
He said for the 2019 elections to be peaceful, the committee must also get the Police leadership and INEC to be neutral, noting that all the recent elections conducted under the current INEC boss were not free and fair.
Frank said: “If Mr President does not have any hidden agenda, regarding the 2019 election, why is he playing lip service to guaranteeing a peaceful election, but refusing also to signing the Electoral Bill which has been amended to his taste?
“Again, this is to inform the security agencies and INEC that any attempt to rig the will of the people in the coming polls will be resisted by Nigerians, ” Frank stated.
While making references to the recent elections conducted by the current INEC readership, Frank said “even in known opposition strongholds, APC used force and coercion to suppress the will of the people.
“Our experiences recently in Ekiti, Osun and the recent Kwara state bye elections, by the current INEC leadership, has left no one in doubt about the neutrality and sincerity in delivering a free, fair and credible elections in 2019.”
According to Frank, if the general elections were to be held today, the fate of the APC would be very obvious, as the margin will be wider than anticipated or imagined.
“As it is now, opposition has lost confidence in the current leadership of INEC, Police and other security agencies because of their political affiliation with the APC, and as evident with their partisanship at the launch of President Buhari’s Next Level campaign recently.
“For President Buhari to show that he is committed to a peaceful election, the President must be committed to signing the 2018 Electoral Act as amended into law. The opposition is ready to accept defeat should they lose under a transparent free, fair and credible elections strengthened by extant laws, and not under a bizarre situation where the ruling party, INEC and the police are perceived by their actions and inactions, conniving for a common purpose to rig.
“I’m also using this opportunity to call on the United Nations, United State of America, European Union and African Union, to lend their voices to compel President Buhari to sign the Electoral Act 2018 as amended into law, proving to the world that he is committed to a peaceful elections in 2019,” Frank stated.
