Politics 2019: APC planning to rig election – PDP cries out

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has again questioned the competence of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to credibly deliver on the 2019 general elections as an unbiased and impartial umpire.

Briefing members of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the party, PDP national chairman, Uche Secondus said the alleged registration of minors by INEC in recent elections held in Kano and Katsina States had elicited doubt about the electoral umpire’s competence for the assignment before it.

“We are ready to let the world know that INEC is prepared to rig elections in 2019. INEC is doing everything on the negative side against Nigerians to rig elections in 2019 and we will come up at the appropriate time to show the data to prove that.
“You are aware that in the last local government election in Kano States, that the under aged voted and never in the history of any election in the world would you take children out en-mass and you give them voter’s card to vote in an election. It happened in 2015, it will not happen again in 2019.
“If they don’t have enough explanation to give to Nigerians, then we shall call on the international community to look at the electoral body. We are ready, determined and resolved to resist all the illegalities in this country,” Secondus said amidst a prolonged applause from party faithful gathered at the NEC hall of the party.
“Our experience shows clearly that over the years, gradually power came from all the 120,000 polling units, and all the 9,000 wards down to our national Secretariat at Wadata and Wadata became so powerful that it could decide whatever and that taking decisions at the local level didn’t matter.

“We have agreed and resolved that we are going to take the power back to the people. Let the people make their choices and let them decide and take their decision so that the party can be strengthened not here at Wadata. What is important and what we are going to emphasize is at the polling units and electoral wards. That is where the votes will come from and that is where the votes will be counted,” he added.
The alleged misconducts of INEC notwithstanding, Secondus tasked party members to educate the people on the importance of getting their Permanent Voter’s Card, noting that the National Working Committee (NWC) under his watch would reward members who work towards victory for the party.
He continued, “We are aware of the attitude of the federal government, especially INEC and the security agencies. They are not friendly at all to Nigerians not to talk about being friendly to PDP.
“We must encourage our members, our constituencies to get their voter’s cards which INEC is in charge of. We are coming up with data on details of distribution and how they have cornered some of these voters’ cards to the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP’s) camps

“We have also developed a new reward system. In the time past, people will labour and work for the party; others will come and enjoy it. Unless you deliver your units, unless you deliver your constituency, you may not be recognized because what counts is the number of votes.”
On the amended electoral act which altered the sequence of elections, the PDP boss lauded the input of the National Assembly, adding that, lawmakers were elected to make laws not for the Presidency but for the people on whose mandate they got into the hallowed chambers.
His words: “I don’t know those who want to quarrel with that (the amended act). National Assembly members are elected by their own people across the country to make laws for Nigerians, not making laws for the cabals or the Presidency. The interest of our nation must be uppermost. They deemed it necessary and they made law for the 180 million people. So we want to urge Mr. President to sign that bill into law because the bill belongs to the people, the law is for the people.”