BY Fredrick Nwabufo
The national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has alleged that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in cahoots with the All Progressives Congress (APC) is plotting to disenfranchise its members and supporters in Lagos state by refusing to release their permanent voter cards (PVCs) to them.
In a statement on Thursday, Olisah Metuh, PDP’s national publicity secretary, said that “the party had observed that officials of INEC were working hand in gloves with the APC in the state to frustrate the distribution of the PVCs in PDP strongholds as well as to non-indigenes in the state”.
The party described the development as “unacceptable, illegal and part of the criminal plot by the APC to hold on to power in the face of its dwindling popularity among the people who were now eager to vote enmasse for the PDP and end APC’s dictatorial rule in the state.”
“While we restate our commitment to peaceful and credible elections come February 14 2015, we will not accept any attempt to scheme us out in any state or states controlled by the APC,” it said.
PDP said APC had been jittery because of the increasing popularity of President Goodluck Jonathan and Olujimi Agbaje, its governorship candidate in the state, and was now bent on compromising the electoral process by manipulating the distribution of the PVCs.
Alleging that INEC had refused to check the trend despite repeated concerns raised by its state chapter and other well meaning Nigerians, the ruling party said that the onus now lay on Attahiru Jega, chairman of INEC, and the leadership of the commission to prove their innocence by immediately intervening and ensuring that all eligible voters in the state received their PVCs accordingly.
PDP also demanded that INEC thoroughly investigate the matter and ensure that all those involved were sanctioned in order to restore confidence in the electoral process in the state.
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