APC buying PVCs to rig election with stolen funds and retain power, they say
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) are being bought by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to rig the 2023 election, retain power, and continue to weaponise poverty and manipulate Nigerians with stolen public funds, according to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party (LP)
Both PDP and LP made the allegation in reaction to the alarm raised by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that politicians are buying PVCs from registered voters
Mohammed Haruna, INEC and National Commissioner for FCT, Nasarawa, Kaduna, Plateau, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), announced in Abuja on Monday that politicians are buying PVCs to harvest Voter Identification Numbers (VINs).
“We are aware some politicians are more or less buying the PVCs. If you collect the PVC and then you sell it out or allow someone else to have it, you are aiding illegal possession of the PVC which is an offence in our Electoral Act,” he said.
“Some of you are aware that only recently, INEC managed to convict two people who were found guilty of illegal possession of PVCs in Kano and Sokoto.
“So, I urge people to connect their PVCs, keep them safely, and make sure that on election day, you go out there and cast your votes because, of course, without your PVC you cannot vote.”
PDP National Publicity Secretary Debo Ologunagba told Vanguard the alarm should not be handled with levity but investigated to arrest and prosecute the offenders.
Ologunagba reiterated the APC has weaponised poverty since it came to power in 2015 and is buying PVCs with money from poor Nigerians.
“The alarm raised by INEC should not be taken lightly because in the last couple of weeks, Nigerians have seen an upsurge in the desperate tactics by the ruling All Progressives Congress to grab and retain power by all means, including the purchase of PVCs from gullible people,” he said.
“The party has weaponised poverty which it intends to use to cow Nigerians into doing its bidding.”
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Using stolen funds to buy PCVs and remain in power
“While we await a thorough investigation to unravel the extent to which APC’s desperation has led it into seeking to criminally manipulate our electoral process to subvert the will of Nigerians, we implore our security agencies and President [Muhammadu] Buhari to remain faithful to their promise to bequeath a credible, free and fair election come 2023,” Ologunagba said, as reported by Vanguard.
LP Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) Chief Spokesman Yunusa Tanko condemned electoral crime and urged Nigerians to beware of treasury looters seeking to buy their conscience.
Said he: “We in the Labour Party condemn electoral crime in all its ramifications. I’m certain the politicians being described by INEC are not within our rank or file, that is why we have been taking our plea for votes directly to Nigerians.
“Our candidate has been campaigning and appearing in debates and town hall meetings because he knows the power to put him and his running mate and of course, our party in office, is in the hands of the people.
“We enjoin Nigerians to beware of politicians, who stole from our common patrimony while in office at one time or another.
“These are the same people who have come to use these same stolen funds to try to buy their PVCs and their votes.”
