Learn From US Election – PDP Warns APC, Buhari
Demands stronger institutions for Nigeria
Ahead of the 2023 general elections, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has challenged President Muhammadu Buhari-led All Progressives Congress (APC) on ensuring institutions of democracy function effectively and independently in the country.
It therefore urged the ruling party and the Buhari presidency to learn from the triumph of democratic institutions in the handling of issues relating to the United States presidential election and the patriotic responsibilities they owe to Nigerians.
The PDP said the US election serves as a “strong lesson to corrupt and power-drunk leaders” in APC “that no matter how desperate they seek to manipulate the system, the will of the people and the constitution will prevail in the end.”
In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan and titled: “Triumph of US Election is A Lesson to APC”, the PDP tasked President Muhammadu Buhari on building stronger institutions for the country, saying; “the insistence of the US judiciary and the legislature on the provisions of their nation’s constitution, especially in resisting those who are desperate to hold on to office even after losing an election, reinforces the triumph of the collective will of a people through their system.
“Whereas our institutions of democracy including the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and security agencies were brazenly manipulated by the APC in the 2019 elections, the United States experience strengthens the determination by Nigerians to stand up against such manipulations ahead of 2023.”
The Party urged all “Nigerians, including compatriots in INEC, the judiciary, the legislature, security forces, faith-based organizations, the media, civil society groups and other political parties to join forces with our party in the quest to reposition and strengthen our institutions for the task ahead.”
According to the PDP; “It is instructive to state that this is the only way to reposition our nation on the path of good governance, political stability, national cohesion and economic prosperity.
“Never again should individuals be allowed to manipulate our system, denigrate our constitution, lie to and incite unsuspecting citizens, promote violence, division and killings; compromise our security agencies, invade our courts and intimidate our judiciary, assault our National Assembly and trample on our laws, all in their inordinate bid to foist their selfish political interests.
“There is no overstressing the fact that for the strong institutions put in place by patriotic leaders of the United States, that nation would have been thrown into terrible turmoil or succumb to a chaotic order that would have no regard for the law and the will of the people.
“Our party therefore urges the Buhari Presidency to check all acts that weaken our institutions and encourage the manipulation of our security, judiciary, legislative and electoral bodies.”
Demanding President Buhari takes urgent and necessary steps to institutionalise reforms that would strengthen Nigeria’s electoral system, including ending all acts of nepotism in appointments into such sensitive institutions, the PDP said; “The American example equally underpins the demand for public officers, particularly the APC leadership in the National Assembly, to begin to pay greater loyalty to our country and her interest over the parochial interest of their party or the executive arm.
“The patriotism displayed by American Senate Leader, Mitch McConnell, in rejecting the attempt to undermine their nation’s electoral system is a direct call on APC leaders in the National Assembly against the unpatriotic practice of putting narrow partisan interests above the national interest.”
In the main opposition party’s view, the time has come for the APC to shake off the toga of “being a community of people with common selfish interest and desperation for personal enrichment, who are not ready to stand up for the truth in the face of acts of injustice, deprivation and callousness against the Nigerians people and our constitutional order.”
