By Dayo Johnson

The South-West zone of the Peoples Democratic Party yesterday canvassed for a level playing ground for all political parties contesting the election.

It’s Zonal Publicity Secretary, South West; Ayo Fadaka said this in a statement issued in Akure.

Fadaka said that “The Gubernatorial election in Ekiti State is just some few weeks away and we find it imperative to declare boldly that there must be a level playing ground for all political parties contesting the election.

“We are deeply worried by emerging trends that plans are already concluded about how to compromise the elections and therefore compelled to believe that Nigeria is about to descend again into the infamy of election rigging.

The party said that “this is troubling in view of recent gains of fair elections accomplished in our nation in the past few years.

“We have taken due cognizance of the many campaign speeches of Kayode Fayemi of APC to the effect that the Buhari administration is set to trample on the fundamental rights of citizens in the immediate pre-election day period, and even on the d-day itself through the use of security agencies.

“We, therefore, use this opportunity to tell President Muhammadu Buhari that he is a statesman and not just a member of the APC, he has a responsibility to discharge to the people of the nation at large and not just his party.

“To this extent, he must ensure that the rules of engagement of security agencies deployed for electoral duties do not in any manner deviate from generally acclaimed norms.

“We invite him to take a cue from the legacies of President Jonathan who ensured that the votes of Nigerians do count in every election.