The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, has accused President Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress of violating the constitution and the Electoral Act 2010, by their alleged deployment of state resources and apparatuses for the 2019 presidential campaign.
Atiku, in a statement on Thursday by his media adviser, Paul Ibe, said the alleged action was contrary to the claims of Buhari and the APC of not abusing state resources.
He said the National Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, had in December 2018 warned incumbent office holders against using state resources for campaigns, or deploying same against opponents.
Atiku, however, noted that the Buhari administration and the APC had allegedly been illegally using state resources to their advantages for the election.
He said, “We wish to remind President Buhari and the APC that the use of state videos released by the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture is illegal under the Electoral Act 2010 as amended.
“The media is awash with advertisements with the hashtag #PMBDIDIT and signed by the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture and referencing so-called achievements of the APC administration in the states of Abia, Kwara, Lagos, Ebonyi, Delta and Kano, among others. These are without doubt 2019 presidential campaign materials produced by the Ministry of Information and Culture using state resources and apparatuses to benefit President Buhari.”
The PDP candidate demanded that INEC should issue a ‘cease and desist order’ to the Ministry of Information and Culture and the broadcast channels running the materials.
Atiku said, “We also insist that INEC register the funds spent on the materials as part of the APC’s total N1bn campaign spend limit.
“INEC is alert to this danger and had warned the ruling party to refrain from such conduct. Now that Buhari and the party have clearly flouted the law, we urge that INEC sanctions them accordingly.”
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