By Adedayo Akinwale and Mercy Apollos Abuja
The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Prince Uche Secondus, has accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of designing special card reader and result sheets for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
The chairman also warned the chairman of the commission, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, that history would be unkind to him if he fails to conduct free and fair election in 2019.
But in a swift reaction, the Chief Press Secretary to the INEC chairman, Mr. Rotimi Oyekanmi, said that there was no iota of truth in what Secondus said, saying that the commission will not be joining issues with any political party.
According to him, “There is no iota of truth in the allegations being made by the PDP. The Commission is focusing on preparations for the 2019 general election at the moment and will not join issues with any political party, especially the one that has perfected the art of raising false alarms.”
Secondus stated this while hosting the election team of the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS), led by Mohammad Conteh at the party’s National Campaign headquarters in Maitama, Abuja.
The PDP chairman alleged that the electoral commission is working in conjunction with the ruling APC to rig the election in 2019.
He therefore cautioned that any manipulation of the election in 2019 would be a recipe for crisis in the country, stressing that the INEC chairman would be held accountable.
Secondus in a statement Wednesday by his Media Adviser Ike Abonyi alleged that the Commission used the governorship elections in Ekiti and Osun States as rehearsal to practise their rigging strategy for 2019.
He stated: “They have finished their rigging arrangements with preloaded cards and special election result sheets all doctored to favour the ruling APC.
“The INEC chairman has no strong will to follow our electoral laws and constitution as well as the laid down international standards in his processes towards 2019 and we want to let the world know this before it happens.
“They have finished plots to isolate states of Kano, Benue, Rivers, Bauchi, Akwa Ibom, Delta, Imo, Kwara and Lagos for disruption during the general election so they can plan well to mobilise the rigging.”
Secondus alleged that the commission’s rigging agenda is being propelled by the security agencies especially with the current Inspector General of Police (IG) who has proved to be the most violent bias police boss in the country.
He noted that his party is using the INEC template they saw in Ektiti and Osun States to reiterate their lack of confidence in the commission as nothing has happened to show that it would not do anything different from what they did in those two states.
