Buhari, APC arm-twisting security, INEC to rig Feb 23 polls -PDP

…Rejects plots to foist APC members as Electoral Officers

Tunde Opalana, Abuja

The leading opposition party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has once again labelled the Presidency and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) as detractors of the nation’s democratic process. The PDP accused the duo of launching new plots to arm-twist the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and security agencies into unlawful acts capable of disrupting the electoral process during coming elections. The PDP claimed that it’s widely condemnation of alleged rigging machinations by the Buhari Presidency and the APC frustrated pre-planned plots and eventual postponement of the February 16 Presidential and National Assembly elections. But, the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, at a press briefing in Abuja on Wednesday, assured Nigerians that every anti- democratic plots by the Federal Government and APC will come to nought. The party said it got wind of attempts by the Buhari Presidency and APC since the rescheduling of polls to coerce the Chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, into submitting to fresh bids the APC-led government to control the operations of the commission and execute its rigging plot. The party claimed that at a meeting held in Buhari Presidency/APC situation room in the Presidential Villa on Tuesday night, where top government functionaries were in attendance, Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) were directed to issue out result sheets to APC agents to falsify and declare results in favour of the APC. “Intelligence at our disposal reveals that the INEC Chairman has succumbed to back channel bullying by the Buhari Presidency and APC to accede to their demand to replace Electoral Officers (EOs) in various critical states with APC agents who will vehemently execute President Buhari’s rigging plans in the February 23 Presidential election. “Also our party has full details of how the Department of State Services (DSS) has been interfering with operations of critical departments of INEC, including the ICT department, to do APC bidding. “The PDP also has details of the meeting last night (Tuesday) by President Buhari, some APC northern governor and Service Chiefs, whereupon pressure was mounted on the Service Chiefs in connection with the APC rigging plans”, claimed the party. The PDP alerted that the INEC Chairman “has been intimidated with threat of ‘Onnoghen’s treatment’ to accept a list of APC members and agents and post them to serve as EOs in various states including Kano, Kaduna, Rivers, Bauchi, Akwa-Ibom, Zamfara, Benue, Sokoto, Lagos, Plateau, Taraba, Borno, Adamawa, Kogi, Delta, Ebonyi among others. “These APC EOs have been briefed to ensure the diversion of sensitive electoral materials from designated polling centers, delay the accreditation process, so as to frustrate voters’ enthusiasm, compromise the collation process to allocate and announce fictitious results for President Buhari and muddle up the process to pave way for result cancellation where it becomes impossible to rig for President Buhari”. The PDP rejected this latest arm-twisting of security agencies as well as the nefarious plots to use APC members as INEC Election Officers. The party further said it became clearer that the Election Day killing order issued by President Buhari is designed to clampdown and even kill patriotic Nigerians who will want to confront and stop the APC from executing their rigging plots on the day of election. To foist every rigging plans, the party has placed Nigerians in their millions, across the 176,000 polling units and voting points on readiness for this election. “Let it be known that there is no way APC members will be allowed to act as INEC or fake security officers in this election. The vehement public resistance that greeted INEC’s attempt to replace already trained ad-hoc staff with APC agents in some states last Friday is a direct warning to INEC”. The PDP therefore cautioned INEC to immediately end its back channel links and disentangle itself from the Buhari Presidency or risk being on collision course with the Nigerian people”, said Ologbondiyan.