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The People\u2019s Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday called on the\ninternational community to impose a travel ban on the Chairman of the\nIndependent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, and\nother officials of the commission as well as some top officials of the Nigeria\nPolice Force for their perceived roles in the Bayelsa and Kogi States\ngovernorship elections.
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\nThe party also called on INEC to cancel the two governorship and Kogi\nWest senatorial elections for the brazen rigging, violence and thuggery that\nmarked the November 16 polls.
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\nPDP also dismissed reports of its plan to sanction former president,\nDr. Goodluck Jonathan, for allegedly aligning with the All Progressives\nCongress (APC) to defeat the party\u2019s governorship candidate in last Saturday\u2019s\nelection.
\nJonathan, it added, remained a respected leader of the party.
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\nThese were the high points of a press conference addressed yesterday\nby its National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus.
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\nSecondus said: \u201cThe PDP, therefore, calls on the international community\nas well as international organisations including, the United Nations (UN), the\nEuropean Union (EU), Commonwealth of Nations, the African Union (AU), and\nECOWAS to immediately impose sanctions, including travel bans on the INEC and\nthe police high command for abusing their offices and aiding or allowing acts\nthat led to electoral fraud and violence in the elections.
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\n\u201cThe primary duty of INEC and the police is to ensure free, fair and\ncredible election. This, they observed in the breach as reported by agents,\nvoters, stakeholders and independent observers in the elections. They must,\ntherefore, be made to face the consequences to serve as deterrent to others.\u201d
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\nSecondus said the wave of terror that took place during the November\n16 elections, was threatening democracy, constitutional order, national\ncohesion and safety of citizens.
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\n\u201cAs the world witnessed, the official conspiracies, bloodletting and\nmindless killing of innocent citizens by agents of the All Progressives\nCongress (APC)-led administration in connivance with the Independent National\nElectoral Commission (INEC), to aid the forceful seizure of power in the\nNovember 16th Kogi and Bayelsa State governorship elections, clearly show that\nour democracy is under severe attack,\u201d he said.
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\nHe accused the police, the military and INEC of working for the APC by\ndeploying assault weapons, including helicopters, to coordinate the violent\ninvasion of polling units.
\nThe party alleged that maximum force, shooting, killing and maiming of\nunarmed civilians took place against people, who came out to perform their\ncivic responsibilities at the elections.
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\nAccording to him, killer security agents brutalised voters and carted\naway ballot boxes to government facilities where results were written in favour\nof the APC and handed to INEC officials to announce.
\nHe said: \u201cFrom the report reaching our party, no fewer than 30\ninnocent compatriots were killed and many more injured in this organised crime\nagainst humanity by the APC, the police and INEC.
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\n\u201cThe only crime of the citizens was their expressed determination to\nvote for the candidates of their choice as governors of Kogi and Bayelsa States\nas clearly manifested in the results from the polling centre before the\nforcible seizure of the electoral processes.
\n\u201cMost distressing is the gruesome incineration of one of our party\u2019s\nwoman leaders in Kogi State, Mrs. Acheju Abuh, in her home by APC thugs, a\ncrime that was abetted by unscrupulous security agents.\u201d
\nHe said the PDP would not allow the crimes to pass.
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\n\u201cThe leadership of our great party has thoroughly reviewed\nincontrovertible pieces of documentary evidence including video clips, graphic\npictures, witness testimonies, manipulated results sheets, proofs of\ncompromising of INEC officials and other hard facts to establish the\nculpability of the police and INEC in the electoral fraud as well as the\nunforgiveable culpable homicide and crime against humanity in the elections,\u201d\nhe said.
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\nThe PDP also restated that it had the details of the roles played by\nthe police high command and the INEC as well as other security agents in the\nelections, adding that the details would be made public at the appropriate\nforum and time.
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\n\u201cIt is instructive to call the attention of Nigerians and the\ninternational community to the fact that since the election, the President\nMuhammadu Buhari-led APC federal government has failed to take any concrete\nsteps to investigate the issues and bring culprits to book. The police and INEC\nhad also failed to take any decisive action to arrest and investigate their\nofficers accused of involvement in various crimes in the elections,\u201d he said.
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\nHe said the invasion of polling units and killing of voters to\nmanipulate electoral results could not be allowed in the nation\u2019s democratic\nspace.
\n\u201cIf the APC\u2019s political brigandage that happened in Kogi and Bayelsa\nState is allowed to stand, such would be extended to other elections, including\nthe 2023 general elections and that would be a death knell to our democracy,\u201d\nSecondus said, adding: \u201cIt is, therefore, a sacred duty we all owe our nation\nto pursue a redress for this crime within the ambits of our national and\ninternational laws.\u201d
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\nHe concluded: \u201cIn this regard, the PDP calls for the outright\ncancellation of the governorship elections in Bayelsa and Kogi states as they\nare products of bloodshed and do not reflect the true wishes and aspiration of\nthe people of the states.
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\n\u201cWe also demand the immediate cancellation of the Kogi West senatorial\nelection. This is the biggest fraud of the century.\u201d
\nThe PDP commended the people of Bayelsa and Kogi States for their\nresilience and resistance against oppressive forces during the election,\nstating that such patriotism would not be in vain.\u201d
\nThe party consoled those maimed during the elections.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The People\u2019s Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday called on the international community to impose a travel ban on the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, and other officials of the commission as well as some top officials of the Nigeria Police Force for their perceived roles in the Bayelsa and Kogi […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2056,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[14,10],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n