You’re undermining INEC, PDP accuses Federal Govt, APC
• Opposition party, others dare Yakubu, vow to resume campaigns • Ruling party summons emergency meeting • Campaign distances self from polls’ shift
THE Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday alleged that some "elements of the Federal Government and the All Progressives Congress (APC) have been sabotaging the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in a well-orchestrated plot to engineer a staggered presidential election"
In a statement by its national publicity secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, the PDP said it "has been reliably informed that two powerful national commissioners played a pivotal role in assisting the APC and the Buhari presidency in sabotaging the operations of INEC and scuttling the February 16 elections."
The party further claimed that "President Buhari is determined to have a staggered election where he can use security agencies to subvert the will of the people at the polls."
The PDP went on: "These APC elements in INEC engi- neered actions that affected the distribution and delivery of sensitive materials to designated locations, thereby frustrating the electoral process.
"We also have details of how a hired team of data hackers corrupted the voter register with a view to causing mass confusion and voter suppression on election day.
"Nigerians would have been shocked that many registered voters in possession of their permanent voter cards (PVCS) would have arrived their polling centres on election day only to discover to their amazement that their names have disappeared from the register in their units.” Meanwhile, the ruling APC has called for an emergency caucus meeting of its chieftains across the federation ahead of the coming elections.
The party’s national public- ity secretary, Lanre IssaOnilu, said the parley, billed for 11a.m. today at its national secretariat, would be graced by the president, his deputy, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, national leader of the political group, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, as well as former and serving governors on its platform.
Also the party’s campaign organisation has distanced itself from the decision leading to the shift of last weekend’s polls.
Lamenting the development, it, however, noted that it behooves INEC to ensure transparency and openness during the exercise.
Addressing a press conference in Abuja, APC Directorate of Election Planning and Monitoring and the Directorate of Contact and Mobilisation, led by Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Raji Fashola, and the Managing Director of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Hadiza Bala-usman, urged Nigerians to convert their disappointment to determination and ensure that their previous sacrifices do not amount to waste.
However, opposition parties under the auspices of the Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) have vowed to resume campaigns today in defiance of the order of the INEC chair, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu.
The CUPP is an association of 51 of the 91 registered political parties in Nigeria.
A statement by CUPP spokesperson, Ikenga Ugochinyere, said Yakubu's pronouncement offended the provisions of the Electoral Act, which stipulate that campaigns could only end 24 hours to the polls.
Also, Ologbondiyan said PDP would re-open its electioneering.
The nation’s chief electoral umpire had at a press conference at the weekend in Abuja announced that there would be no more room for rallies or collection of PVCS despite the postponement of the elections by one week.