The Presidency has responded to the allegations by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) over the appointment of Amina Zakari, a commissioner in the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as presidential collation officer in the forthcoming election.
In a statement issued by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Garba Shehu, the Presidency said President Muhammadu Buhari and the INEC commissioner don’t share a family relationship.
The statement reads in part: “In another mendacious press release, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has continued their baseless accusations regarding Hajiya Amina Zakari, a commissioner in the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) accusing her of partiality and casting doubts about her integrity as an electoral commissioner.
“In their desperation, they forget that it was the PDP government that appointed her in the first place and they keep lying, as they have been caught doing on so many issues, by imputing a blood relationship between her and President Muhammadu Buhari.
“President Buhari and Commissioner Amina Zakari don’t share a family relationship. An inter-marriage occurred in their extended families, so the imputation of blood relationship between the President and the electoral commissioner is a simple lie.
“What is even more curious about all the fuss coming from the PDP is that they, as a ruling party picked Mrs Zakari, judging her by her own merit and made her an electoral commissioner.
“She served so well with distinction as can be verified from the records that President Buhari approved the recommendation that she be reappointed, as he did other PDP nominees for second-term of four years.
“PDP, therefore, has no moral right to keep harassing this hardworking mother unless they have a hidden agenda. By this statement, the PDP is guilty of scoring an own goal and two, of harassing an innocent citizen on the basis of a lie, pure and simple.”
Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Presidential Campaign Organization (PPCO) has charged the National Assembly to immediately commence the process of the removal of President Muhammadu Buhari’s alleged niece, Mrs. Amina Zakari, from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
However, the National Publicity Secretary of PDP, who is also the PPCO Director Media and Publicity, Kola Ologbondiyan while addressing journalists in Abuja explained that, ” our position is predicated on the fact that it is clear to all, that Amina Zakari’s uncle, President Buhari, after being rejected by Nigerians, is now using her as virus to compromise the independence of the commission, manipulate the electoral process and rig the Presidential election for him.
Ologbondiyan also alleged that, “the Buhari Presidency has been using Amina Zakari to bear pressure on INEC even to the extent of brazenly foisting her as the collation officer for the Presidential election to enable President Buhari announce himself as winner.
President Buhari is seeking a way to annex INEC, practically, take over the collation of results, and announce himself the winner, he said.
According to him, ” this is a clear invitation to anarchy and a huge political crisis capable of derailing our democracy because Nigerians, across the board, are already in vehement rejection of this self-succession plot and are now, more than ever before, ready to use every necessary means available and accessible to them in a democracy to protect our democratic process.
Ologbondiyan also revealed that, “it will interest Nigerians to know that following public outcry against her nomination, Amina Zakari’s agents, last night, surreptitiously attempted to compromise the media by sending secret messages to emails of editors with the view to water down and sway the direction of information on her provocative appointment to lead the collation of Presidential election results.
He also alleged that, “we have been informed of how Mrs. Zakari led other top INEC officials to a secret meeting with some top officials of the Buhari Campaign Organization (BCO) in Abuja on ways to introduce the controversial Incidence Form under a new name and use such to manipulate the collation of results.
The director media and Publicity also urged Nigerians and lovers of democracy all over the world “to unite in condemning this scheme by the Buhari Presidency to use Amina Zakari to enmesh our election into unnecessary controversy and trigger a political crisis in our country, just because they have realized that President Buhari cannot win the Presidential election.
“President Buhari and Amina Zakari should know that Nigerians have made up their minds in rallying behind our Presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, as their next president and no amount of machination, shenanigans and scheming will stop this resolve, he added.
