The New Nigerians Peoples Party (NNPP) Ogun State has rejected action by the Ogun State Electoral Commission (OGSIEC) to postpone the deadline for parties’ primaries.
The NNPP Chairman, Olaposi Oginni lamented that the postponement show that the commission is allegedly planning to rig the forthcoming polls for the All Progressives Congress in the state.
Oginni while speaking with newsmen insisted that OGSIEC is allegedly playing loyalty to the ruling APC against the other political parties.
Oginni further stressed that the postponement of the date which presume the end of primaries shows that the Commission is not ‘independent’ and being control by a ‘power’.
The NNPP chair reiterated that the postponement is worrisome and unacceptable by the party as it is unconstitutional and a slap on democracy.
Oginni said, “the letter sent by OGSIEC to different political parties on the extension of the date of primary is worrisome. And why it is worrisome is that, we are worried that if the OGSIEC is shifting the goalpost when the game is already on, We are worried that this may be a sticker to a monumental rigging arrangement.
“We are aware that APC did not do any primary on till today that’s suppose to be last day for the primary.
“They are just moving from one house to the other, from one leader to the other and waiting for the governor as if the governor is the constitutional body that suppose to do the primary.
“Now, we have done our own primary and we’ve invited OGSIEC and they have witness it. Why should they now extend the date of primary? The extension of date of primary automatically will have bring a kind of dislocation into the arrangement of the election. And this may even lead to the shifting of the election date, because as far as we are concern, election is matter is a constitutional matter. It is not just anybody sitting down anywhere after you’ve roll out your guideline with your programmes and other things. Because a ruling party fail to comply to all your arrangement and guideline, then you have to shift the date, shift the compose.
“We, New Nigeria Peoples Party condemn that action of OGSIEC in totality. We want to say that is a power signal to democracy. Because we want to see it as if he who play the piper dictate the tune.
“So, if it is governor Abiodun that’s dictating to them, that is yet to conclude with his party, that they should go and shift the date, then, how are we going to say that OGSIEC is independent?!”
