The Peoples Democratic Party on Wednesday raised fresh
allegations aiming at discrediting the National Chairman of
the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Attahiru
Jega, over the conduct of the elections.
At a crowded press conference in Abuja, the Director of Media
and Publicity of the PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation,
Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, alleged that Jega had meetings with
some unnamed leaders of the main opposition party, the All
Progressives Congress, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
But the commission said it was not in its character to join
issues with political parties.
The Chief Press Secretary to the Chairman of the commission,
Mr. Kayode Idowu, said this when contacted to react to the
allegation.
Idowu said, “INEC doesn’t join issues with political parties,
because the commission is a dispassionate umpire.”
However, the National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Alhaji
Lai Mohammed, dismissed the allegation as utter nonsense
and irritable.
Speaking in a telephone interview with one of our
correspondents on Wednesday, Mohammed said, “I’m in Abuja
with some of our leaders. Baba Bisi Akande is here, Alhaji
Atiku Abubakar is here, former Governor Kayode Fayemi is
here. Asiwaju Bola Tinubu is in Lagos.
“No leader of the APC is outside the country. So, tell me who
is Jega meeting? Is it members of our NEC? Not one of our
leaders is outside the country. This people are paranoid. We
are preparing for our NEC meeting. We have some of our
governors here. The PDP is paranoid.”
But Fani-Kayode also alleged that the meeting was aimed at
making sure that those who had yet to get the Permanent
Voter Cards were denied the opportunity of receiving them.
The former Minister of Aviation put the number of those voters
at 23 million.
Fani-Kayode added that the commission was scheming out
voters in states and areas where he said supporters of the
ruling party were.
Besides, he alleged that the PVCs were still at China and had
yet to be imported to Nigeria.
He said, “Pieces of information at our disposal have shown
that Jega has had meetings with the APC stalwarts in Dubai
and other cities in the world to perfect this wanton conspiracy
against 23 million eligible voters.
“Besides, we have information that the PVCs that Nigerians
are scrambling for are not in Nigeria and will not arrive before
the elections.
“These PVCs are still in China and Jega has strategically
delayed their arrival to suit his electioneering permutations.”
Asked to provide proof about the alleged Dubai meeting, Fani-
Kayode refused.
Fani-Kayode however said that Jega must also show
Nigerians proof that the Chinese company printing the PVCs
had been paid in full by disclosing the total contract sum and
the amount paid to date.
He also demanded that Jega should show proof of arrival or
expected date of arrival of all PVCs for the elections and that
he should equally tell Nigerians how he could have distributed
23 million PVCs within five days to election if there hadn’t
been postponement.
He said it was wrong for the commission to have claimed that
the election was shifted due to insecurity, adding that the
electoral body was not fully ready for the election.
“The matter is that INEC has failed in its responsibility to
produce and distribute PVCs to about 34 per cent of registered
voters who would require the cards to vote in the elections.
“This brings us to the issue of statistics of PVC distribution
and collection which we believe Jega, as a person acting in
concert with some forces of retrogression, is playing games
with.
“We express our concerns today that Jega may have decided
to aid the APC to rig the forthcoming elections through the
manipulation of the production, distribution and collection of
PVCs, such that emerging trends have consistently shown
calculated attempts to deprive parts of the country that would
traditionally vote for President Jonathan of their PVCs.”
