PDP shuns INEC parley with political parties

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) shunned Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) organised parley with political parties.

There were about sixty political parties in attendance.

PDP and its presidential candidate in the 2019 poll, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar are already in Court challenging the outcome of the election.

The parley is meant to review the Conduct of the 2019 general elections.

Otunba Niyi Adebayo represented the All Progressive Congress (APC).

INEC had announced that it will commence a National dialogue on the last general elections with the aim of improving on the shortcomings identified in the last Feburary and March 2019 polls.

In his keynote address, Prof Mahmood Yakubu said with the general elections over it was necessary for the commission to review the conduct of the polls with a view of improving electoral process in the country.

Yakubu also pointed out that the meeting with political parties will afford the commission to hear directly from the political parties who are critical players in the elections.

The commission, he further said conveyed to each political parties issues to be discussed at the meeting.

He also used the opportunity to charge the political parties on the need to do internal cross-examination to see if they have been complying with extant law.

Citing an aspect of the law which directs the parties to submit two reports at the end of elections, Yakubu noted that only one political party and one presidential candidate have so far submitted reports to the commission.

Going forward, he tasked political parties on the need to develop their internal democracy .

“The Commission has promised the nation that it will undertake a major national conversation on the future of our electoral process. Having concluded our in-house reviews, today marks the beginning of our consultation with stakeholders. This is therefore an auspicious occasion to, first of all, hear from those who actually fielded candidates for 1,558 constituencies in which elections were held in 2019 and deployed agents to 119,973 polling units as well as the various levels of collation of results and declaration of winners nationwide.