Notwithstanding its flaws, Nigeria’s two major opposition political parties, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party (LP), have reaffirmed their commitment to seeing the country’s democracy grow.
They said this in seperate reactions to the latest report by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labour, US Department of State, on the 2023 general elections, yesterday.
National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Hon. Debo Ologunagba, in a telephone chat with Vanguard said, “I am yet to read the report. But one thing we, as a party can assure Nigerians is that we remain committed to the advancement of democracy in our country.
“We are also committed to ensuring that our country does not become a one-party state or slide into dictatorship.”
Speaking in a similar vein, his counterpart in the Labour Party, Obiora Ifoh, said, “With all said and done, take solace in the fact that the report was fair enough to admit that there were irregularities including but not limited to: vote buying, ballot box snatching, intimidation and physical attacks on our party supporters especially in Lagos.
“The report was magnanimous enough to note that supporters of the All Progressives Congress (APC) suppressed votes in areas dominated by our supporters during the March 2023 governorship election in Lagos.
“To say the outcome of such an election reflects the majority view of Nigerians is left for the people to judge.
“Our commitment to the development of democracy in Nigeria remains unshakable.”