The Peoples Democratic Party has said it will defy the prohibition of campaign by the Independent National Electoral Commission before next Saturday’s Presidential and National Assembly elections.
The party said this in a statement on Sunday by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan.
INEC had on Saturday after it postponed by one week the National Assembly and Presidential elections, barred parties from resuming campaign before the February 23 new date for the elections.
Ologbondiyan said the party resolved to resume campaign after due consideration of the provision of the Electoral Act.
He said the prohibition of open campaign by INEC “was erroneous, directly in conflict with the provision of the Electoral Act and is not backed by any other law in our country”.
The statement by Ologbondiyan added: “Our position is predicated on the clear provision of section 99 (1) of the Electoral Act which stipulated that ‘for the purposes of this Act,
the period of campaigning in public by every political party shall commence 90 days before polling day and end 24 hours prior to that day’.
“The clear import of this provision, in the current situation, is that given the postponement of the election to February 23, 2019, the 24 hours requirement for closure of all public campaigning falls at midnight of February 21.
“The PDP reminds INEC that whenever its administrative pronouncement conflicts with the Electoral Act, such administrative pronouncement must bow before the law. The party charges INEC to be appropriately guided while directing its members to await further directives ahead of its reopening of campaigns.”
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