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Head and Members of Delegation,
Members of the National Working Committee, NWC.
Preamble.
On behalf of the National Working Committee and leaders and members of our great party, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, I welcome you to Wadata Plaza, our National Secretariat. It’s from here we coordinate the activities of our party in all the 8809 political wards across the nation, the 774 local Government Areas, 36 states and the FCT, and the six Zonal levels as well as the general administration of the party nationally and internationally.
Party of rules.
The operations of this party is basically as enshrined in the party’s Constitution latest of which is as amended in 2016. We are a party guided by the rule of law and we religiously follow the dictates of democracy, anchoring our strength on the Nigerian people in line with our slogan-power to the people.
Sustenance of democracy
Recall that our party came to office in 1999 and nurtured our democracy for 16 years, during which our party carried out an extensive electoral reform that culminated in our loss of power and the entry of the opposition since 2015.
That seamless transition of power from ruling party to opposition remains the finest time for our democracy and indeed the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC. The global democracy stood in salute for us as a nation.
Unfortunately, both INEC and the government in power have been unable to replicate or grow on that fine foundation.
11 Elections in 60 years-1959 to 2019- How has it been?
In our near 60 years of nationhood, we have conducted 11 national elections each with accompanying mix reactions starting from
1959 parliamentary election, it was fair.
1964, parliamentary election in December which was boycotted by Lagos, Eastern region and Midwest and had to hold theirs in March 1965.
1979, Presidential election on August 11, although it’I was relatively transparent but was questioned by Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s Unity Party of Nigeria UPN.
1983, Presidential Election that produced the famous landslide victory of the then ruling National Party of Nigeria, NPN and resulting in the military return to politics.
1993, presidential election that produced the infamous June 12 that became a watershed in our polity remains one of the freest.
1999, Presidential Election final return to democracy conducted by the military was relatively fair
2003, Presidential election still fair with some grumblings.
2007, Presidential Election still grumbling forcing the winner late President Umaru Yar Adua to question its integrity and he had to initiate electoral reform.
2011, Not much grumbling as the electoral reform was already in process.
2015, Nigeria’s finest time with elections in the country.
2019, Easily the height of electoral impunity that set the nation’s electoral development progressively backwards.
Opposition Roles
On our side as an opposition party it has not been easy operating under a ruling party whose understanding of democracy is impunity, intimidation and coercion.
INEC and its Responsibilties.
As a result we have found ourselves often attacking your commission especially where we found some of your operatives unable to detach their interest.
We are standing vindicated in the eyes of many electoral watchers as all our fears and apprehensions ahead of election came to fruition in the general election of February and March this year, the preceding governorship elections in Ekiti and Osun states earlier and the latest being the November 16, 2019 gubernatorial election in Bayelsa and Kogi states.
Military involvement in Elections
Despite a standing lawful court ruling that military should be kept at a distance during elections as secondary security, we have all watched how they not only took over the primary security role from the Police but in some instances dictated and even connived with some INEC officials.
Nigerians have watched how the Electoral body unable to control the military relinquished their responsibility to them and still curiously went ahead to authenticate such fraud.
Electoral Reforms.
I am not going to bore you with issues that is well known to your commission in your reviews of elections but I would like to urge your commission to move quickly and initiate Electoral Act amendment that will legalize electronic voting and remove the influence of the military as primary security on the Election Day.
APC not keen Electoral Reform.
The ruling APC unlike the PDP is not disposed to any electoral law that will prevent them from manipulating the system, we in PDP expect INEC to be at the forefront of the process to have legal frame work for the conduct of free, fair and credible election.
Such legal framework should address the issue of security, electronic voting and collation of results and punishment for electoral offenders.
INEC integrity.
Finally, the survival and sustenance of our democracy rest squarely on the integrity of the Electoral Commission which will derive from the character and the impartiality of its operatives.
The effect of bad elections in our polity has been far reaching, stagnating the political and economic development and permanently hoisting on the people unpopular and incompetent leaders. The tension and uncertainty in the country today is clearly a fallout of election mishap in February.
Free, fair and credible election is exactly what PDP and indeed global democracy demand and expect from INEC.
Thanks for coming and God bless.
