By Daniel Kanu
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was in a celebratory mood on Friday following the judgment of the Supreme Court, which invalidated the primary election of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State.
The ruling barred the APC from presenting any candidate in the state for the upcoming polls.
Calling the APC primaries legally defective, the opposition party said by nullifying them, the Supreme Court served the cause of justice by recording a victory for democracy and the rule of law.
A statement by the national publicity secretary, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan hailed the courage of the apex court in “delivering the landmark judgment, which has saved the nation from a serious constitutional crisis that could have marred the 2019 general elections and detract from our overall electoral system.”
The judgment of the Supreme Court serves as a huge lesson to politicians
and political parties to eschew impunity and always conduct their affairs in a manner that is in tandem with the provision of the law.
“The courage displayed by the Supreme Court in delivering the judgment at
this critical time in our national life has also restored the confidence
of Nigerians in the institution of the Judiciary and our democratic
order.
In a related development, the opposition party has called on Nigerians, who are yet to collect their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) to take advantage of the extension of deadline for collection by the Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC), to get their cards ahead of next Saturday’s
presidential election.
The party which said the collection of the PVC was of utmost national
importance to Nigerians “in their quest to rescue our nation from
President Muhammadu Buhari’s incompetent, divisive, vengeful and corrupt administration,” however cautioned “INEC officers not to pitch themselves against Nigerians with any action that could portray them as
deliberately refusing to issue the PVCs to registered voters.”
PDP said the caution was “predicated on allegations in the public space that the All Progressives Congress (APC) has compromised some field officers to deliberately refuse to issue the PVCs, having realized that Nigerians are eager to get the cards to vote out President Buhari from office.”
The opposition party said “Nigerians are so eager for the election that anything that appears to be in the way of their aspiration to elect a new president could lead to unpalatable reactions with very dire consequences.”
