By Daniel Kanu
The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Prince Uche Secondus, has charged Nigerian voters to troop out to their various polling booths to check their names as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) starts displaying voters’ register at all polling units across the country today November 6, 2018.
Prince Secondus said that the desire to rescue Nigeria from the APC government would be meaningless if everything pertaining to voting was not sorted out ahead.
According to a statement from his media office signed by his media adviser, Mr. Ike Abonyi, Secondus said the essence of the four-day display as stipulated by the Electoral Act was to ensure that no voter was disenfranchised, insisting that “this is the first step to avoid it”
He said the act of confirming the details ahead of the election was a mechanism put in place to reduce attempts by the electoral umpires to manipulate the system by saying that names of voters were not available.
“By cross checking and re-cross checking, the voters wittingly would have begun the battle to frustrate rigging of the election,” he said.
Secondus urged voters who notice issues with their particulars to cry out loudly immediately by going to the electoral centers to complain for rectification, alleging that “part of the rigging strategy of the APC working in agreement with some INEC staff is to doctor voters’ lists in the opponent’s strongholds to reduce their electoral advantage.”
The National Chairman said: “The unanimity by majority of Nigerians that President Muhammadu Buhari and his ruling APC should be chased out of our political lives would have no meaning if we are not ready with the necessary weapon (our PVC) to do that.
“Please note that if you have a PVC and your name is not on the register, you are as good as a person who has gone into a contest he did not register for and expecting a positive result.”
He urged Nigerian voters not to take anything for granted if their desire to rescue the country’s democracy was to be realized.
“If your team is going into a match you are sure you are better than your opponent and you are not sure of the neutrality of the referee, you need to play well, win fair and square and block any room for manipulation”
He told the electorate to always bear in mind that what was at stake in the 2019 elections was not just democracy and the country, but the valued individual rights and interests.
The National Chairman also charged INEC to ensure that the registers were not only displayed at the polling booths but that the correct ones to be used for the election were the ones on display.
