2019 elections: Obasanjo’s concerns vindicate us – PDP

The PDP has said the comments of former president Olusegun Obasanjo on the 2019 general elections vindicates its earlier position on the credibility of the polls

– Obasanjo had said President Buhari is planning to use the apparatus of state power to subvert the electoral process and perpetuate himself in office

– Nigeria’s main opposition party says Buhari and APC’s desperation for power is putting the lives of over 200 million Nigerian citizens at great risk

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has reacted to the recent comments of former president Olusegun Obasanjo on the 2019 general elections.

The PDP in a statement sent to TrackNews on Sunday, January 20, by its presidential campaign spokesman, Kola Ologbodiya, said the concerns raised by Obasanjo have vindicated its earlier position on the credibility of the polls.

Obasanjo had in a press conference said President Muhammadu Buhari is planning to use the apparatus of state power to to subjugate Nigerians, undermine the country’s democratic system, subvert the electoral process and perpetuate himself in office.

“Obasanjo’s submission has also reinforced our position that President Buhari, and his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), having realized that there is no way he can win in a free and fair election, is now besieging all democratic institutions, including the judiciary, the legislature, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), while engaging in acts that threaten the unity, peace and corporate existence of our dear nation.

“The whole world can see how President Buhari and APC’s desperation for power is putting the lives of over 200 million Nigerian citizens at great risk as their actions stoke violence and push our dear nation to the precipice,” Ologbodiyan said.

The PDP said the APC “has always been a deceptive soulless mob that would rather have our nation burn than to be out of power.”

According to the party, Obasanjo’s concern is a clarion call to all compatriots, irrespective of ethnic, religious and political affiliations to rise in defence of our democracy.

“He has reinforced the fact that this nation belong to all of us; that our pride as a people lies in our resilience and globally acclaimed ability to rise above and defeat every situation that challenges our nationhood.

“The PDP therefore calls on all Nigerians to be at alert at this critical time to stop President Buhari and the APC on their anti-democratic trails with our votes.

“If we don’t take action with our votes, we would be giving up our nation to totalitarian forces at our own peril and those of generations yet unborn,” Ologbodiyan stated.

Meanwhile, the APC has replied Obasanjo over his allegations against President Buhari.

Speaking with journalists in Abuja, the spokesperson of the APC, Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu, said the party does not have any reason to even rig the election, adding that the allegation was a mere imagination of the former president.

Issa-Onilu also said the former president was being haunted by his past.