February 24, (THEWILL) – The People’s Democratic Party in Cross River state have rejected the planned deployment of soldiers for the conduct of the Ogoja/Yala bye-election in the state.
The state chairman of the party Venatius Ikem made this know in Calabar while reacting to the planned use of soldiers for the excercise.
The PDP chief insisted that the directive to deploy the army can only come from the Chief of Army Staff and the political parties concerned will be adequately briefed on their operational order.
In his words, “There are legitimate ways you can deploy the army as well as illegal ways to intimidate voters.
“That directive can only come from the Chief of Army Staff and if there are reasons to deploy the army it will be so stated.
“”We will also be briefed on the operational order outside which you cannot deploy the army,” he said.
He faulted reports the governor met the Commander, 13 Brigade of the Nigerian Army to solicit for deployment of the army for the excercise.
He said the party will legitimately resist any such attempt because the army is not directly involved in elections.
He emphasized that while they are playing by the rules, the government in power is doing everything else to work against the rules of engagement and also create an atmosphere where they will be a breach of security so they can use the apparatus of government to intimidate the party.
He stressed that the PDP in the state will not allow any underhand tactics to undermine an election they are poised to win.
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THEWILL Correspondent, Aniekan Bassey has over six years experience that spans across several fields in print journalism including development communication, sexual reproductive and health rights issues, crime, climate change, social justice, business and human interest stories.
