Ekweremadu to Buhari: Tell police to stop intimidating PDP members

Thursday, September 8, 2016

Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, has asked President Buhari to prevail on the police to stop intimidating members of the opposition party, PDP, particularly those in Edo state who are meant to go to the polls this Saturday to elect a new governor.

In a statement signed by his media aide, Uche Anichukwu, Ekweremadu accused the police of arbitrarily arresting and intimidating some PDP members and supporters.

He urged President Buhari to urgently intervene and maintain the standard of a free and fair election that was established by the PDP before they lost to APC during the last election.

“I am deeply distressed by the development, not just because I am a member of the PDP, but more importantly, because the PDP had taken our electoral process beyond where it is being dragged back to today. The greatest gift of democracy, which makes other blessings of democracy feasible, is the inalienable right of the people to elect their leaders of their own freewill in a free, fair, and credible electoral process that must be devoid of all forms of intimidation. As a beneficiary of the electoral reforms and policy of non-interference in the electoral process, exemplified by the immediate past PDP administration, led by former President Goodluck Jonathan, I expect the APC-led federal government to immediately call the security agencies to order. If the APC-led FG cannot improve on the electoral process, I expect them to, at least, maintain the standard set by the PDP, “he said.