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The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) says the success of its Port Harcourt convention in River State is an indictment of the electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The party made the assertion in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyanwho declared that the orderliness, transparency and credibility of its Presidential primary serve as a direct lesson to INEC and the All Progressives Congress (APC) on how elections should be conducted in present-day Nigeria.

The party said that the process has shown that the electoral umpire, in its manifest compromises, has been responsible for the electoral crises at various levels of elections.

The statement stated: “It also shows that our citizens, irrespective of their individual and group interests, are capable of holding peaceful and credible elections that meet global standards.

“The success of our presidential primary followed our strict adherence to democratic rules and principles of transparency and fairness, which has eluded the nation since President Muhammadu Buhari-led licentious administration assumed office. Simply put, in the PDP Presidential primary, every vote counted.

“Nigerians are therefore no longer in doubt that our compromised electoral umpire, under the Buhari administration, is ostensibly culpable for injecting rancorous situations that create openings for violence, manipulations, inconclusive polls and outright rigging of elections.
We invite the whole world to note that the PDP conducted its Presidential primary and a clear winner, Atiku Abubakar, emerged, without any form of disagreements or reliance on heavy security, showing that Nigerians are peaceful, orderly and desirous of credible processes at all levels of political engagement.

“The PDP therefore charges INEC to stop blaming voters, accept responsibility for its failure to conduct credible elections and learn from our presidential primary, as we approach the 2019 general elections.

“Finally, the PDP restates its determination to dismantle APC’s rigging machinery and return credible processes in all spheres of our national life.”