The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has said after considering the provision of the Electoral Act, it is set to reopen its open campaigns.
Recall that the Presidential and National Assembly elections were postponed by the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC from the earlier scheduled date of February 16 to February 23, 2019.
The PDP in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary and Director, Media & Publicity, PDP Presidential Campaign Organization, Kola Ologbondiyan, stated that with the election shift, it still has time to carry out open campaigns.
According to the statement, the party rejected the wrongful administrative prohibition of open campaigns by INEC, saying such administrative pronouncement was erroneous and directly in conflict with the provision of the Electoral Act and is not backed by any other law in the country.
The party stated that its position was 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.”
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“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 therefore reminded INEC that whenever its administrative pronouncement conflicts with the Electoral Act, such administrative pronouncement must bow before the law.
The party further charged INEC to be appropriately guided while directing its members to await further directives ahead of its reopening of campaigns.
