The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has accused President Muhammadu Buhari of deploying the services of a “shadowy”, “unregistered” group to purchase the Expression of Interest and Nomination Forms to vie for the presidential ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Recall that a group, Nigeria Consolidation Ambassadors Network (NCAN), on Wednesday paid the N45 million required to purchase the form for Buhari.
The Personal Assistant to the President on New Media, Bashir Ahmad, announced the gesture via his Twitter page.
Hr wrote: “While president Buhari is far in China, a group of good Nigerians bought expression of interest form and nomination form for him.”
Buhari’s expression of interest and nomination forms
But in a Thursday statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, the PDP accused Buhari of using a “worn-out stunt smacking of fraud” to deceive Nigerians into voting for him.
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The party also said that the group’s action contravened Section 91(9) of the Electoral Act which provides that “no individual or other entity shall donate more than One million naira (#1,000,000) to any candidate.”
Read the full statement below:
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has described the use of a shadowy group as a front to purchase the N45 million All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential nomination form for President Muhammadu Buhari as a worn-out stunt, smacking of fraud and worsening the already battered image of the President.
The party said President Buhari can no longer play the pro-poor gimmick which his followers have always presented to Nigerians.
Already, our people are daily confronted by the flaunting of affluence and material wealth by the President and those around him, while betraying and abandoning millions of poor Nigerians who, unfortunately, put their trust in him in 2015.
Nigerians are aware that the very expensive personal effects, including posh jewelries daily paraded by his close relatives betrayed the gimmick of using an unregistered group, pieced together to execute another failed pro-poor stunt to sway Nigerians.
Moreover, the PDP urges the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to note that the purchase of the N45 million form by the group directly violates section 91 (9) of the Electoral Act which provides that “no individual or other entity shall donate more than One million naira (#1,000,000) to any candidate.”
Since President Buhari has not publicly disowned the purchase of the form by the group, the PDP charges INEC to, within the next 24 hours, hold him culpable and make him to face the appropriate sanctions for the violation of electoral laws.
Finally, it is unfortunate that President Buhari and his handlers, in their desperation to hang on to power, even when they have been rejected, have reduced themselves to objects of public ridicule with their many bloopers ahead of the 2019 general elections.