The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to address the issue of violence during elections in the country.
It advised the President to end all attempts to bring the issue of running for another term in 2013 to public discourse, saying “the issue of third term is a dead end.”
The party said this in a statement on Saturday by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, a day after President Buhari said he has no third term agenda.
The President had told leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) at a meeting on Friday in Abuja that he could afford to be reckless because he had no plans to remain in power after his second term.
In its reaction, the PDP faulted the violent incidents recorded in the just concluded governorship election in Kogi and Bayelsa States.
It asked President Buhari to focus his attention on how to tackle the killings and purported alteration of election results alleged by the ruling party under his watch.
“Touting a respect for the constitution as a way of bringing the issue to public discussion cannot give it a life,” the party stressed, adding, “The PDP notes that if President Buhari seeks to uphold the constitution, he should have used the APC NEC meeting to directly and strongly condemn his party’s resort to violence, killing, forceful invasion of polling units and alteration of results to seize power in the November 16th Kogi and Bayelsa states governorship election as well as the Kogi West Senatorial election.”
The PDP asked President Buhari to summon the nation’s service chiefs and order a presidential investigation into the violence recorded in the elections.
It alleged that a police helicopter was deployed in one of the states to teargas voters, warning that “such a failure, however, registers grave meanings to Nigerians.”
“It is also unfortunate that instead of taking concrete and decisive steps to bring the perpetrators of the heinous crimes in Kogi and Bayelsa to book and give assurances of electoral reforms, Mr President is rather seeking to make discourse of an unattainable third term.
“The PDP urges Nigerians to note Mr President’s well-informed fears that the APC might not survive his tenure,” the party said.
It accused the APC of causing division and hardship in the country, saying that was why some Nigerians resorted to suicide and slavery mission abroad as options.
“… Mr President should know that Nigerians’ expectation of him, in this second and, of course, last term, is the restoration of rule of law and a legacy of electoral reforms that will guarantee free, fair and credible election in Nigeria.
“Anything short of this is unacceptable,” the PDP said.
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