TheCable

Namadi Sambo, Nigeria’s vice president, has said that the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is not in anyway afraid of the use of card readers for the forthcoming general election.

Sambo said the party was only interested in ensuring that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) conducts proper elections.

He was speaking on Thursday during an interactive session with members of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Kano.

“There is nothing wrong with the use of card readers but our concern is free, fair and credible election,” he said.

“We don’t want anything to go wrong through the use of the card readers. PDP is not afraid of anything. We are only saying, let us do this thing properly.

“In Ebonyi state, the INEC commissioner said he is going to repeat the testing and in so many other states there have been problems with the card readers, to the extent that INEC itself has introduced an incidence form.”

Sambo further said PDP remained the only party in the country that has retained its identity since 1998.

“Our party has been there since 1998. It has never changed name or colour. It is the party Nigerians want and the party they will vote in to continue doing good things,” he said.

He described the postponement of the election as a blessing in disguise, saying if INEC had gone ahead with the poll at the dates initially scheduled, 23 million eligible voters would have been disenfranchised.

“The postponement of the election has been a blessing to Nigerians,” he said.

“INEC extended the period for the distribution of the PVCs to March 22, otherwise 23 million Nigerians would have been short changed.”

He also urged Nigerians to support the federal government in the battle against insurgency, maintaining that the situation in the northeast should not be politicised but seen as a collective responsibility.

“All Nigerians must come together to address this issue. It is the only way the issue can be addressed,” he said.

“Is it the government of Nigeria that sent Boko Haram to other countries like Chad, Niger Republic and Cameroun?”