The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Presidential Campaign Organization, (PPCO) vehemently rejected the appointment of Amina Zakari as Chairperson of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Advisory Committee and Presidential election Collation Center Committee for the 2019 general elections.
It could be recalled that, before her recent appointment, Amina Zakari a niece to President Muhammadu Buhari was at a point heading the ICT Department of the Commission before she was appointed as the INEC commissioner in charge of Health and Welfare.
Addressing journalists in Abuja on Thursday, PPCO director media and Publicity, who is also the publicity secretary of the party, Kola Ologbondiyan described Amina’s recent appointment as an “heinous machination by the Buhari Presidency and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to subvert the will of the people and rig the February 16, Presidential election.
Ologbondiyan revealed that, “we have been informed that the Chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, apparently in furtherance of the plots to rig the Presidential election, has appointed Mrs. Amina Zakari, a blood relation (niece) of the APC candidate, President Muhammadu Buhari, as the Chairperson of INEC Advisory Committee and Presidential election Collation Center Committee.
“The Peoples Democratic Party Presidential Campaign Organization (PPCO) outrightly, vehemently and unequivocally rejects, in its entirety, the appointment of Mrs. Amina Zakari, President Buhari’s blood relation, as the head of the collation of results, in the same election in which his uncle, President Buhari, as a candidate, has displayed a huge desperation to win, he said.
He also claimed that, ” the appointment of Mrs. Amina Zakari, who had been openly accused in various quarters as being the link person between INEC and the Buhari Presidency in their schemes to rig the election for President Buhari, constitutes a direct violence against the Presidential election and the PDP will not, in any way, whatsoever, accept it.
PPCO Director Media and Publicity also alleged that, “this is the same Amina Zakari, who headed the ICT Department of INEC at the time that department was accused of manipulating the INEC voter register to accommodate fictitious, underage and alien voters, particularly, in remote areas where they plan to allocate and announce conjured votes for President Buhari and the APC.
Ologbondiyan who noted that, this appointment confirmed that, Prof. Yakubu has allegedly been compromised said ” the fact remains that there is no way Amina Zakari will not allocate votes to her blood relation, President Buhari, whom Nigerians have indicated clearly that they are not ready to return to office as President.
According to him, “With Amina Zakari at the head of results collation, there is no way votes cast by Nigerians will count.
He charged Nigerians and the National Peace Committee to note that “with the appointment of Amina Zakari, as head the collation of Presidential results, the INEC Chairman is setting the stage for a very huge political crisis, which is capable of derailing our democratic process.
He further warned that, “If the INEC Chairman wants a peaceful Presidential election, he should, with the speed of light, reverse himself on this appointment.
“The PDP remains committed to a peaceful and credible process, but we will never, in any way, allow anybody to use any means, under any guise whatsoever, to rig us out in this election. Not after it is clear that Nigerians have attained a consensus to rally behind our Presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, as their next President, he said.
He added that, ” all we ask for is a free, fair, credible and transparent electoral process in which the votes of Nigerians will not only count but will be seen to have counted.
