The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP said it has uncovered the ploy by the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government and the All Progressives Congress, APC, to use its direct primary mode of electing its candidates to rig the 2019 general elections.
The party said it was aware that the Presidency forced the direct primaries option on APC members to eliminate delegates’ participation and pave way for the allocation of millions of “conjured” votes, which it intends to use to realize its ambition.
The National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan in a statement on Saturday noted that rigging was the sole reason even governors elected on the platform of the ruling party, have now settled for the direct primaries model.
“Having eliminated contest within the APC, the Presidency, which is now apprehensive of apathy against President Buhari due to his increasing unpopularity, plots to import non-members of the party to satiate the venue of the presidential primaries to create an impression of overwhelming popularity for Mr. President and use that to validate the fictitious votes they are conjuring for the presidential election.
“The PDP is reliably informed that this rigging plot is the reason APC aspirants to other positions, especially, APC state governors, are demanding for direct primaries instead of the indirect primaries earlier approved for them by their party.
“This rigging plot is the major reason behind the secret creation of 30,000 illegal polling units by INEC, in compromised areas, which we earlier alerted the nation about. This is in addition to plots by INEC to frustrate genuine voters from accessing their Permanent Voters Cards, PVCs, so as to allow the cards in the hands of compromised INEC officials, who will attempt to use such to allocate fake figures for APC,” the statement read in part It called on the commission to publish on its website, the number of accredited voters in all polling centers before the commencement of voting in all elections, particularly the presidential election.
