The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Benue State have rejected the October 5th local government elections in the state.
A statement by the party’s publicity secretariat Tim Nyor says, the election was characterized by numerous well documented incidents of irregularities, including the shocking non-deployment of election officials or electoral materials to polling units across the state.
He argued that in the few areas where some semblance of the charade was orchestrated by the All Progressives Congress, APC, led administration of Governor Hyacinth Alia, evidences erupted everywhere, including media space, of ballot stuffing and mass thumb-printing of ballots.
The main opposition party added that the Benue electorate, who turned up for the exercise were left waiting all day in vain at the polling units, and in the end only came away more disillusioned with the state of public administration in Benue State under Governor Alia.
The PDP expressed deep concern at the brazen display of lack of integrity, not only by the Benue State Governor, but also by the Benue State Independent Electoral Commission (BSIEC) which reneged on its earlier promises to guarantee the electorate their right to exercise their voting franchise.
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“Both Governor Alia and BSIEC have failed the Benue people and in so doing, violated their sworn oath to uphold the integrity of the electoral process in the state.
PDP takes the stand beside the disenfranchised people of Benue State, and expressly states before the whole world that there was no local government polls held in the state yesterday.
What transpired was nothing more than a mockery of democracy, a charade orchestrated to deceive the people and foist a puppet regime at the 23 local government councils of the state to continue with the vicious circle of poverty, breeding underdevelopment at that tier of administration.
“This blatant abuse of power and the unparalleled manipulation of the electoral process cannot be tolerated in any democratic setting, and accordingly we demand that the sham exercise be cancelled by Governor Hyacinth Alia and a fresh exercise be conducted in line with extant electoral laws and in conformity of integrity of the electoral process.”The statement read in part
The party demanded that the Governor should measure up to the standards required to keep the electoral culture growing and not act in a manner that threatens to undermine it rather.
Nyor insist that the PDP is the party of choice for the Benue electorate and under a free and fair contest any day in the state, the people will choose the PDP over the APC which under Governor Alia has lost wherever little credibility and appeal it had with the people.
He reiterated the party’s call for the cancellation of the council polls and the conduct of a fresh exercise, stressing that failing to do so will attract legal options available to the party.
The PDP says it remains committed to fighting for, and demanding for democratic processes that uphold the values of fairness, transparency, and accountability.
(Editor: Ebuwa Omo-Osagie)
