Following the exclusion of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from the ballots in Plateau state, the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) has threatened to boycott the re-run election for Plateau North Senatorial zone and Jos North/Bassa Federal constituency scheduled for Saturday, February 3.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had on Thursday defended its decision to disqualify the PDP and its candidates from the re-run election, citing a court ruling that upheld their earlier nullification.
However, IPAC, an umbrella body of all registered political parties in the state, said it would not accept the exclusion of the PDP, claiming it was a violation of the Court of Appeal’s order that all parties should participate in the election.
The IPAC chairman in the state, Abubakar Dogara, said the council had resolved to withdraw from the election in solidarity with the PDP, which he described as one of its members.
“An injury to one is an injury to all, therefore, if PDP is not participating, no political party will participate,” Dogara said at a press conference on Friday.
He accused INEC of being biassed and not transparent in its handling of the re-run election, saying the commission had failed to provide the list of parties and candidates that would be on the ballot papers.
He also expressed concern over the security situation in the state, saying the council preferred peace to elections.
“We know how fragile the issue of peace is on the Plateau, we are trying to avert anything that will take us to the doom days,” he said.
However, the All Progressives Congress (APC), has dismissed IPAC’s threat as “baseless and irrelevant”, saying it would not join the boycott.
The APC state publicity secretary, Sylvanus Namang, said in a statement that the party was fully prepared to participate in the re-run election, and urged its supporters to come out en masse to vote.
He said IPAC’s position was self-serving and a mere expression of personal views, which had no bearing on the position of the APC as a political party.
He advised IPAC to respect the rule of law and the electoral process, and refrain from making inflammatory statements that could jeopardise the peace and security of the state.
Namang also accused Dogara of betraying the trust of the council, saying there was no meeting where he discussed any form of boycott of elections.
“We want to dismiss his claim as that of a political merchant and a PDP apologist,” Namang said.
“We call on security agencies to provide adequate security to all INEC officials and ad hoc staff to be involved in the election to save us from the lawless PDP in Plateau State.
“We had warned before that all their claims of being on the ballot were an orchestrated plan to disrupt the election and cause anarchy and mayhem in the state. A stitch in time, we believe, saves nine,” Namang warned.