The Presidency has berated the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, over the allegation that Mrs. Amina Zakari, a national commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, is a blood relation of President Muhammadu Buhari and did not deserve to participate in the co-ordination of affairs concerning the coming presidential election.
The party said she was capable of influencing the election to favour Buhari.
However, in its reaction, the Presidency said the claim by the PDP was a blatant lie.
According to it, Zakari was not a blood relation of the president.
It added that Zakari was appointed under the PDP-led government based on merit.
It said that it was in recognition of her excellent performance that she was re-appointed like others by Buhari.
The Presidency said the PDP was by its action, unnecessarily harassing Zakari.
The position of the Presidency is contained in a statement issued by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu.
The statement reads: “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….
“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.”
