The Presidency has waded into the controversy surrounding the appointment of Mrs Amina Zakari as the head of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) presidential election collation centre, saying that apart from inter-marriage, she shares no relationship with President Muhammadu Buhari.
A statement issued by Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant to the President (Media & Publicity), in Abuja on Friday, chastised the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for its attack on Zakari over the appointment.
The main opposition party had alleged that the INEC National Commissioner, who is also in charge of Health and Welfare in the commission, is a niece to the President and therefore cannot be made to head such a sensitive post.
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PDP, therefore, maintains that she must be removed for the sake of the credibility of the presidential election.
But the presidential spokesman maintained: “In another mendacious press release, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has continued their baseless accusations regarding Hajiya Amina Zakari, a commissioner in the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) accusing her of partiality and casting doubts about her integrity as an electoral commissioner.
“In their desperation, they forget that it was the PDP government that appointed her in the first place and they keep lying, as they have been caught doing on so many issues, by imputing a blood relationship between her and President Muhammadu Buhari.
“President Buhari and Commissioner Amina Zakari don’t share a family relationship. An inter-marriage occurred in their extended families, so the imputation of blood relationship between the President and the electoral commissioner is a simple lie.
“What is even more curious about all the fuss coming from the PDP is that they, as a ruling party picked Mrs Zakari, judging her by her own merit and made her an electoral commissioner.
“She served so well with distinction as can be verified from the records that President Buhari approved the recommendation that she be reappointed, as he did other PDP nominees for second-term of four years.
“PDP, therefore, has no moral right to keep harassing this hardworking mother unless they have a hidden agenda.
“By this statement, the PDP is guilty of scoring an own goal and two, of harassing an innocent citizen on the basis of a lie, pure and simple.”
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