PDP boasts of victory in re – run polls in 5 states

Tunde Opalana, Abuja

As voters in five states participate in supplementary elections today, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is optimistic that it will coast to victory despite collaborative forces of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and security agencies with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to subvert the will of the people.

The party alerted Nigerians of an alleged unsavory development being orchestrated by INEC to assist the APC to manipulate the electoral process in Bauchi, Sokoto and Adamawa states, ahead of today’s elections.

The PDP pointed out that in Bauchi, INEC is yet to complete the collation of results to determine the margin of lead in the governorship election, yet it is proceeding to conduct a supplementary election.

Speaking through its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan at a press briefing on Friday, the party said the anomaly being created by INEC is directly geared to cause confusion and muddle-up the Bauchi electoral process and pave the way for allocation of fictitious votes to the APC.

He said the PDP has reports of how the INEC leadership connived with the APC to delay the collation of results from Tafawa Balewa Local government, then stampede the courts to halt the process in an attempt to ambush the supplementary election.

“This informs why INEC hurriedly and shamelessly jettisoned its statutory independence and implemented the unconstitutional ex parte order to halt the collation of results in Bauchi and Adamawa states, even before the order was enrolled and served on it.

“The PDP cautions INEC to note that it already has the figures of votes delivered at the polling units. We also have figure of voters with PVCs in the areas where INEC plans to conduct supplementary elections. Therefore, any attempt by INEC and the APC to pad the results to favor the APC will be firmly resisted.

“The PDP is in a comfortable lead in Bauchi and nothing can change this reality, irrespective of supplementary election in which we are also set to win.

“In Adamawa, we have also been informed of how the APC and INEC are conniving to cause confusion and alter the figures of already collated results of the governorship election won by the PDP.

“The situation has become so pathetic that the Adamawa resident electoral commissioner is yet to officially state the commission’s position on whether the supplementary election will hold or not.

“The PDP reminds INEC that it has the figures of the already collated results in Adamawa and warns that any attempt to tamper with such will be faced with dire consequences, Kola stated.

In Sokoto state, the PDP alerted Nigerians of the invasion of the state by heavily armed thugs imported by the APC from neighboring states of Kano and Zamfara to unleash violence, cause confusion and help the APC to rig the supplementary governorship election, under official protection of compromised security agencies.

“However, the PDP wants INEC, the APC, their thugs and the compromised security personnel to note that the people of Sokoto state are determined to assert themselves in this election and anybody attempting to subvert their will would be doing so at his or her own risk.

“In Rivers state, our party holds that the shifting of the collation of results by INEC to April 2-5, 2019, without providing any reason, is a calculated attempt to create room for their partners, the APC, to engage in judicial manipulations or abracadabra to scuttle the election already won by the PDP.

“The PDP cautions that such shenanigan by INEC is highly provocative, especially as the people of Rivers state are already aware of all the results delivered from the polling units, which puts the PDP in clear lead.

Any alteration will spell doom for our democracy given the place Rivers State occupies in our national economy,” the party said.

The PDP then charged the INEC chairman to ensure strict adherence to the use of card readers in all the supplementary elections.