June 12, (THEWILL) – The main opposition party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has urged Nigerians to use the June 12 Democracy Day to accentuate the demand for the entrenchment of democratic tenets in the country.
The party in a statement by the National Publicity Secretary, Hon. Debo Ologunagba, to mark the occasion of Democracy Day, noted that it was “distasteful, offensive and unacceptable for the nation to observe the Democracy Day under a system that violated, desecrated and despoiled all the tenets of Democracy as witnessed in brazen rigging that characterised the 2023 general elections.”
It said the manipulations of the 2023 general elections by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), amounted to an unpardonable assault and rape of democracy and disregard for the will of the people; the very ills which Chief MKO Abiola fought and died for.
PDP said, “June 12 epitomises the struggle by Nigerians against corrupt, manipulative and anti-democratic system; against injustice, impunity and electoral fraud which INEC, under Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, now represents.
“It is indeed heartrending that all the steady progress and gains made by successive PDP administrations in reforming our electoral system have been completely wiped off by INEC in the conduct of the 2023 general elections.”
The Party, however, urged Nigerians not to despair, but remain optimistic and be law-abiding in their hope for a better nation which they earnestly yearn for.
It called on the leaders at all levels across the country to be guided by the essence of June 12 by always adhering to the principles of democracy in the overall interest of the Nigerian people.
AYO ESAN, has been actively reporting and analyzing political events for different newspapers for over 18 years. He has also successfully covered national and state elections in Nigeria since the inception of this democracy in 1999.
