PVC: Floppy distribution to skew election in favour of PDP – APC

From Ayodele Samuel, Lagos

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has raised the alarm over the three-day distribution of the Permanent Voter’s Cards (PVCs) in 12 states, which rounded off at the weekend, saying the process was intentionally programmed to fail in order to disenfranchise voters in the states with the highest number of voters.

In a statement issued in Lagos yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the fact that most of the 12 states in which the process has been largely botched in the past three days have the highest number of voters and are under the control of the APC point to a clear collusion between INEC and the PDP.

It said most registered voters were unable to collect their PVCs because INEC engaged in a programmed incompetence to swing the elections in favour of the PDP, in what is a clear case of rigging at source.

‘’There is no doubt that this programmed incompetence has emanated from just one source, the ICT unit of INEC, with the intent of sabotaging the PVC distribution process in key states, hence we are calling on INEC Chairman, Attahiru Jega to institute an internal inquiry into the botched exercise with a view to fishing out the fifth columnists who are behind the sabotage, meting out the necessary punishment to them.

The party said it is curious that most of the affected states (Kaduna, Kano, Edo, Plateau, Ogun, Imo, Borno, Rivers, Lagos, Nasarawa, Katsina, Niger) are either opposition strongholds or harbour the highest huge number of voters.

‘’This is highly suspicious, against the background of available information that the PDP-led Federal Government is working to disenfranchise voters in opposition strongholds during the forthcoming polls,’’ it said..

‘’Going by the poor state of the registration machines which cannot register more than 50 voters a day each; the non-available or non-functioning printers and other problems, INEC cannot obviously meet the deadline to register eligible voters in those states before the next elections

‘’The plan, therefore, is to postpone the elections in the states to a later date, so the PDP-led federal government can then use the Ekiti formula that includes massive militarization and widespread intimidation to prevent a free and fair elections in the states. That is why we believe that INEC’s shoddy PVC distribution exercise in those states constitute a programmed incompetence that was jointly formulated by INEC and the PDP,’’ It said.

APC slammed INEC for resorting to lame excuses for botching the exercise, saying Nigerians are not interested in who got the contract to produce the cards but in being able to exercise their franchise during the forthcoming elections.