2015 Polls: Prove your allegations against us, INEC dares PDP
2015 Polls: Prove
your allegations against
us, INEC dares PDP
The Independent National
Electoral Commission, INEC, has
refuted allegations made against
it by Nigeria’s ruling party, PDP,
and asked the party to prove
them.
The PDP Presidential Campaign
Organisation, PDPPCO, had
alleged that the commission was
deliberately preventing valid
voters in certain sections of the
country from getting their
Permanent Voter Cards.
The campaign organisation’s
spokesperson, Femi Fani-Kayode,
said at a press conference in
Abuja on Wednesday that the
PVCS were yet to be imported to
Nigeria, and were still in China
where they were produced.
Mr. Fani-Kayode added that INEC
was deliberately distributing the
PVCs in such manner as to
disenfranchise many voters from
North Central, South-East, South-
South and South-West geo-
political zones. He claimed those
voters were supporters of the
PDP candidate, President
Goodluck Jonathan.
In his reaction, Kayode Idowu,
the Chief Press Secretary to the
INEC chairman, Attahiru Jega,
told journalists that the
onus was on PDP campaign to
validate its claims.
“It is they that should produce
proof that we have not produced
the cards, because INEC has
produced those cards and put
them in the public domain.
Anybody who says it is not like
that should produce proof,” Mr.
Idowu said.
While speaking on the millions of
registered voters who were yet
to collect their PVCs, Mr. Idowu
said, “We have extended the
collection deadline and people
need to make use of that
opportunity to come out.”
“INEC cannot drag people out of
their houses to collect their PVCs.
It is for INEC and the media to
continue to sound it in the ears of
people that they need to make
judicious use of this time;
otherwise, anyone who does not collect his card
will disenfranchise himself,” he added.
The electoral commission had said on Friday
that over 70 per cent of the voters’ cards had
been distributed.
The distribution of the cards was a reason the
PDP and some parties and groups called for the
postponement of the elections, initially
scheduled for February 14 and 28.
Although the elections were eventually
postponed to March 28 and April 11, that was
mainly due to the statement by security agencies
that they needed six weeks to tackle the Boko
Haram insurgency before the elections are held.
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