PDP Sets up Parallel Voting Tabulation System

PDP Sets up Parallel Voting Tabulation System

*Says there will be consequences for rigging

*Deploys 176,000 trained agents in polling units across the country

By Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja

With what transpired during the Osun guber election still fresh in its mind, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has set up what it described as ‘state of the art’ Parallel Voting Tabulation (PVT) system to hold the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) accountable.

Addressing journalists at a press conference, one of the PDP campaign spokespersons, Osita Chidoka, said that the party lacks confidence in INEC, noting that they are relying on the show of love and support Nigerians have shown the party’s candidate, Atiku Abubakar, during the campaign trails.

The main opposition party however threatened that, there would be consequence if the February 16 presidential election was rigged in favour of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

Chidoka stated, “The PVT is a reporting system from the wards, to the district headquarters, to the states to the national tally centre, and the system has redundancies built at all levels, in the event of internet or command shutdown or failure or any other eventualities.

“The PVT is a scientifically proven, best practice technique, to hold election authorities accountable, particularly when there is lack of trust, and the results are highly contested.

“The PVT is a tool that will ensure that PDP partisans accept the results of the election, and that the country remains peaceful and respectful of its differences. We are aware that other PVT will be conducted by civil society,” Chidoka added.

The PDP campaign spokesperson therefore urged the electorate and party supporters to call hotline number: 097000551 to report any incidence of violence or electoral malpractice.

“The PDP is deploying an unprecedented number of trained party agents to each of the 176,000 polling units across the country. The agents have been trained in electoral process, understand their rights to be present, and have data and SMS technologies to report results as they are certified by the INEC officers at the polling units in real time,” he revealed.

He warned that, “Anyone who interferes in the electoral process, there will be consequences. There will be consequence for rigging.

Meanwhile, the National Publicity Secretary of the party and Director Media and Publicity, Kola Ologbondiyan, said that the party had mobilised 40 million Nigerians for the victory of its candidate, Atiku Abubakar.

To this end, the party has directed members to get ready to arrive at their polling centres very early to vote and to use every legitimate means to protect themselves from any aggression and resist all rigging plans.

Ologbondiyan described this election as a choice between “democracy and dictatorship; between justice and injustice, between prosperity and poverty; unity and polarity; peace and bloodletting; freedom and enslavement; progress and stagnation; creation of jobs and job losses, respect for territorial integrity and invasion; a choice between an in-charge President and a President by proxy.

He stated, “By all manifest indices from the six geo-political zones, 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, the peoples candidate, Atiku Abubakar, is already coasting to victory and not even the machinations by the Buhari Presidency and the All Progressives Congress (APC) can change this reality.

“The PDP acknowledges the fact that for Nigerians, this election is not about politics but about building our nation; it is not between the PDP and APC but between Nigerian citizens and President Buhari, whose incompetent, vengeful, violent-prone, divisive and inherently corrupt administration has brought so much poverty, anguish and pain to our dear country,

“We want to note that our party has fully mobilized over 40 million of our members and directed our supporters to stand shoulder to shoulder with Nigerians in all the polling centres across the federation in the overall determination to vehemently unleash full-scale resistance against President Buhari and APC’s rigging plans,” he added.

The main opposition party however commended patriotic Nigerians who resisted inducements as well as intimidation by government.

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