The Peoples Democratic Party(PDP)has actually reacted to the verification of a card-carrying member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Prof. Rhoda Gumus, as a National Commissioner (South-South) in the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

While rejecting her visit, the PDP alleged that INEC deliberately plans to jeopardize the electoral commission ahead of the 2023 surveys.

A declaration by Debo Ologunagba, the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, on Monday, alerted that Prof. Gumus’ confirmation by the APC-led Senate management was a “coup” against democracy and an open invite to political crises.

The PDP implicated the APC-led Senate management of exposing itself as an anti-people entity, insensitive to the goal of Nigerians for transparent and reliable elections in 2023.

The declaration said, “the action of the APC-led Senate is incendiary and extremely intriguing due to the fact that it violates Paragraph 14 (2 )(a) of the 3rd Schedule to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), which supplies that a member of the Commission will be non-partisan and a person of undeniable integrity”.

The PDP notified that the media space was awash with reports of Prof. Gumus as a member of the APC in Bayelsa State with Registration Form No: BAY/YEN/08/ 58315 and number 27 in the APC Ward Register.

The opposition celebration alleged that in nominating and verifying an APC card-carrying member into INEC, President Muhammadu Buhari and the APC have broken the arrangements of the 1999 constitution (as amended) which it promised to protect.

The statement partly read, “Our celebration, therefore, concerns a stern care to Prof. Gumus to, in the interest of peace, avoid INEC as there is no way she can operate in that workplace as a card-carrying member of the APC.”

PDP called on President Buhari to instantly withdraw the appointment of Prof. Gumus as INEC National Commissioner in line with his oath of office and advised CSO’s in addition to Nigerians to insist that consultations into INEC remain in line with the arrangements of the constitution and other appropriate laws.