Kogi Guber: PDP Reveals What INEC Is Plotting

The Peoples Democratic Party on Tuesday urged the Independent National Electoral Commission to conduct a free and fair election in Kogi State November 16 elections.

The party accused INEC of working with the ruling All Progressives Congress to manipulate the electoral process in their favour.

PDP in a statement through its spokesperson, Kola Ologbondiyan, noted that the electoral body has failed to inform stakeholders on the election modalities, particularly the use of card readers, the model of accreditation, voting, as well as collation, transmission and declaration of election results from the polling units to the final declaration.

He stated that the action of the commission raised questions on its sincerity to deliver a credible election.

The party alerted that, “such suppression of vital information ahead of this crucial election heightens public suspicion and allegations of conspiracies between INEC and the All Progressives Congress (APC) to muddle up and manipulate the electoral processes to favour the APC.”

“The situation is already generating tension in the state, given the insistence of the people for a transparent, free and credible election that will only reflect their wishes and aspirations at the polls.”

“Our party forewarns the Chairman of INEC, Prof. Yakubu Mahmood, not to cause trouble in Kogi state by immediately declaring the mode of transmission of results given the claims by the commission, before the Presidential Election Petition Panel, that it does not have a server.”

The party charged the INEC Chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, to clear the air on the form of accreditation of voters, checking of voter register disparities, the modality for voting as well as whether the commission will deploy manual or electronic transmission of election results to the final declaration.

PDP stated that the party or the people of the state will not allow the commission to leave any stone untouched.

The party stated that this election is the time for the people of the state to entrench a new order and they won’t accept any process that will not assure them of a transparent, credible, free and fair election.

“Our party, therefore, requests the management of INEC to provide answers to these crucial issues within the next 24 hours as its silence is already spawning anxieties, which are capable of triggering serious crisis ahead of the election,” the statement added.