Lagos State chapter of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has raised alarm over an alleged attempt by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to manipulate the forthcoming elections in its favour.
The PDP called the attention of President Muhammadu Buhari, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Usman Baba Alkali, to the development.
The party also drew the attention of all well-meaning Nigerians to what it described as the electoral fraud being committed by the state chapter of APC ahead of the 2023 elections, saying it the alarm in consonance with the promise made by the president to deliver a credible election “which we have seen the demonstration in Ekiti and Osun state gubernatorial elections.”
Publicity Secretary of PDP, Hon. Hakeem Amode, who is also the Chairman, Media and Publicity, JandorFunke 2023 Campaign, raised the concern on Monday in Lagos during a press conference he addressed at the Campaign Office.
Amode alleged that the ruling APC had embarked on voter manipulation in the state, ahead of 2023 polls, through use of information on Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) surreptitiously demanded from their owners, saying that the plot had reached a proportion where it was now being aided by the state government apparatus.
This was just as Amode said recent unconfirmed reports received by the party indicated that some unscrupulous INEC staff were colluding with members of the ruling party in the state to deny some groups of people access to collection of their PVCs.
According to PDP spokesperson, who disclosed that the party had already petitioned the electoral body over the matter that government officials were using their position to collect voters’ information and requesting the submission of photocopies of PVCs as a prerequisite for work permits in transport parks and trading in the markets, saying it viewed these directives and actions as amounting to hoodwinking the electorate and an attempt by the party to manipulate the 2023 elections ahead of the exercise.
“We are aware of the ruling APC government officials using their position to collect voters’ information and requesting the submission of photocopies of Permanent Voter Cards – PVCs as a prerequisite for work permits in transport parks and trading in the markets. We view these directives and actions as hoodwinking and an attempt by the ruling APC government to manipulate the 2023 election ahead,” he said.
Lagos State chapter of All Progressives Congress (APC) has in its reaction said it had become the antics of PDP in the state to level wild and unsubstantiated allegations to confuse an undiscerning public, pointing out that Lagos voters were already wary of such.
The spokesperson of the ruling party, Hon. Seye Oladejo, said the PDP lamentation is seasonal confusion that always preceded the party’s perennial defeat in the state since 1999.
He, however, urged the party to look inward and address the intractable crisis which he said had polarised the platform beyond repair.
Oladejo said the ruling APC had been busy campaigning to all and sundry and to all the nooks, corners and crannies of the state, noting that its robust campaign had ensured that the party remained the only visible platform in Lagos “as far as awareness for the forthcoming elections is concerned.
“I believe that the seasonal confusion that always precede the opposition’s perennial defeat since the advent of this democracy in 1999 is rearing its ugly head again. Voters in Lagos State are already wary of the antics of the PDP whose stock in trade is to level wild and unsubstantiated allegations to confuse an undiscerning public.” APC reacted.
