As Nigerians at home and in the Diaspora are celebrating the 30th anniversary of the June 12, 1993, presidential election, also known as Democracy Day, on Monday, the Peoples Democratic Party has accused the Independent National Electoral Commission and the All Progressives Congress of undermining democracy and disrespecting the memory of the martyr of the struggle, Chief MKO Abiola.
In a statement issued by its spokesman, Debo Ologunagba, the party urged Nigerians to use the occasion of the celebration to demand the entrenchment of democratic tenets in the nation’s polity.
“The barefaced manipulations of the 2023 general elections by the All Progressives Congress and the Independent National Electoral Commission amount to an unpardonable assault and rape of democracy and disregard for the will of the people—the very ills for which Chief MKO Abiola fought and died,” the statement read in part.
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The party also described it as distasteful, offensive and unacceptable for the nation “to observe the Democracy Day under a system that violated, desecrated and despoiled all the tenets of democracy as witnessed in the brazen rigging that characterised the 2023 general elections.
“June 12 epitomises the struggle by Nigerians against the corrupt, manipulative and anti-democratic system; against injustice, impunity and electoral fraud, which INEC, under Prof Mahmood Yakubu, now represents.
“It is indeed heartrending that all the steady progress and gains made by successive PDP administrations in reforming our electoral system have been completely wiped off by INEC in the conduct of the 2023 general elections.
“Our party, however, urged Nigerians not to despair but to remain optimistic and law-abiding in their hope for a better nation, which they earnestly yearn for.
The PDP charges all the leaders across the country to be guided by the essence of June 12 by always adhering to the principles of democracy in the overall interest of the Nigerian people.”
(Punch)
