PDP opposes INEC’s appointment of Amina Zakari as collation C’ttee chair

By Lateef Ibrahim,Abuja

The Peoples Democratic Party Presidential Campaign Organization (PPCO) has rejected the appointment of a National Commissioner with the Independent National Electoral Cimmission, INEC, Mrs. Amina Zakari as the Chairman, ad-hoc committee on National Collation Centre of the commission.
The Chairman of INEC, Prof Mahmood Yakubu had yesterday inaugurated two ad-hoc committees, ‘Electoral Logistics and the National Collation Centre’ at the INEC headquarters, Maitama, Abuja with Amina Bala Zakari as Chairman of the Committee on Electoral Logistics.
Addressing journalists on the matter yesterday, the Director of Media and Publicity of the PPCO, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, said that Mrs. Amina Zakari had been openly accused in various quarters as being the link person between INEC and President Muhammadu Buhari.
Ologbondiyan pointed out that there is no way Amina Zakari will not allocate votes to her blood relation, President Buhari.
The PPCO argued that with Amina Zakari at the head of results collation, there is no way votes cast by Nigerians will count.
Ologbondiyan thus called on all Nigerians and particularly the National Peace Committee to note that with the appointment of Amina Zakari, as head the collation of Presidential results, the INEC Chairman is setting the stage for a very huge political crisis, which is capable of derailing our democratic process.
He urged the United Nations and other global democratic institutions to take note of this noxious appointment by the INEC Chairman.
In his words, “The Peoples Democratic Party Presidential Campaign Organization (PPCO) outrightly, vehemently and unequivocally rejects, in its entirety, the appointment of Mrs. Amina Zakari, President Buhari’s blood relation, as the head of the collation of results, in the same election in which his uncle, President Buhari, as a candidate, has displayed a huge desperation to win.
“The appointment of Mrs. Amina Zakari, who had been openly accused in various quarters as being the link person between INEC and the Buhari Presidency in their schemes to rig the election for President Buhari, constitutes a direct violence against the Presidential election and the PDP will not, in any way, whatsoever, accept it.
“This is the same Amina Zakari, who headed the ICT Department of INEC at the time that department was accused of manipulating the INEC voter register to accommodate fictitious, underage and alien voters, particularly, in remote areas where they plan to allocate and announce conjured votes for President Buhari and the APC.
“In appointing Mrs. Amina Zakari to head the collation of this Presidential election, Prof. Yakubu has confirmed that he has been compromised and that he has already succumbed to pressure by the Buhari Presidency and APC to open the way for the self-succession of President Buhari.
“The fact remains that there is no way Amina Zakari will not allocate votes to her blood relation, President Buhari, whom Nigerians have indicated clearly that they are not ready to return to office as President.
“With Amina Zakari at the head of results collation, there is no way votes cast by Nigerians will count.”