By Daniel Kanu
A plot by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to “secretly create 30,000 illegal polling units” to favour the All Progressives Congress (APC) has been alleged by the Peoples Democratic Party (PD).
It cited its “investigation” which shows that this is part of the grand design by the INEC chaired by Mahmood Yakubu “to rig the 2019 election for President Muhammadu Buhari and his dysfunctional APC.”
It alleged a series of clandestine meetings between INEC, Presidency, and APC officials, “where the plot to sneak in the 30, 000 illegal polling units in some remote areas and through which they plan to allocate votes to Buhari and the APC were perfected.”
PDP National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, said in a statement that the APC having realised that Nigerians have rejected it because of its “manifold failures in governance,” the Presidency and the APC have resorted to “dirty antics to create ways to rig the polls.”
The statement cautioned the INEC not to set the nation on fire by its conspiratorial tendencies and urged Yakubu to heed wise counsel and perish the thought of using such polling units or of dividing the nation along ethnic lines for the ballot.
“We invite the INEC to note that every Nigerian has seen the handwriting on the wall regarding the general rejection of Buhari and the APC well ahead of the elections.
“We all know where the tide is flowing and Nigerians are not ready to, and will never, accept any results that do not reflect that reality.
“Having completely lost confidence in the integrity of the INEC under Yakubu, we unequivocally demand that all processes leading to the 2019 must be subjected to open review of political parties and stakeholders at all levels,” it added.
The PDP asked the INEC to make public the location and status of all polling units as well as the report of its investigation of under-age voters in various parts of the country, particularly, Kano and Katsina States.
“We urge Nigerians to remain vigilant and monitor all processes to ensure that INEC and the APC do not, at any point in the process, manipulate the 2019 general election and subvert the will of the people.
“The best thing APC and the Presidency should do now is to accept failure, shed their desperation for power and desist from actions that will push the nation to the brinks.”
