Kola Ologbondiyan, a former national press secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has advised against hastily discussing political party mergers in advance of the 2027 elections. This comes after former vice president and PDP presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar called on opposition parties to band together in order to challenge the All Progressives Congress’s (APC) hegemony in the polls for the presidency in 2023.
As per The Cable News, Ologbondiyan underscored the importance of harmonizing beliefs prior to contemplating a merger. The Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) stressed the significance of common ideas in possible mergers, while the Labour Party (LP) declared it was not holding merger negotiations.
Reflecting on the 2023 elections, Ologbondiyan criticized Mahmood Yakubu, chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), for not enhancing Nigeria’s electoral process. The criticism stems from INEC’s post-election report which revealed technical glitches, notably the failure of the result viewing portal during the presidential poll. INEC attributed the malfunction to a configuration bug, acknowledging its impact on result transmission.
INEC CHAIRMAN HASN’T HELPED ELECTORAL PROCESS’
Commenting on the 2023 elections, Ologbondiyan said Mahmood Yakubu, chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), did not “help” Nigeria’s electoral process.
“As far as I am concerned, I know that the current INEC chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, has not helped our electoral process,” he said.
