THE Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) opposition to use of card readers in the rescheduled elections has proved the All Progressives Congress (APC) accusations right that the ruling party is trying to either prevent the polls from holding or to rig it.
APC’s National Publicity Secretary Alhaji Lai Mohammed, who said this in a statement in Lagos yesterday, added that it was curious that the PDP rushed to the media to deny the allegations and then quickly turned around to confirm them.
The statement reads: “At the press conference we addressed on Wednesday, which rattled the PDP and the Jonathan administration so much, we listed the conditionalities of the PDP/Jonathan administration for holding the election: no Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs), no card readers, no Prof. Attahiru Jega and the fact that they want the military deployed to harass and intimidate voters.
‘’We mentioned ‘card readers’ at least three times during the press conference, and said they (PDP/Jonathan administration) are doing everything possible to sabotage the machine and prevent its use.
‘’Both the spokesmen for the PDP and the Jonathan Campaign Organisation rushed to the press to deny any such ‘reprehensible’ plan. But a few hours later, the spokesman for the campaign organisation told an incredulous country that they would oppose the use of card reader, apparently after the spokesmen were overruled by their party.
“Obviously, these men are outsiders in their own party and it is now obvious that the opposition knows more about the inner workings of their party than they do.”
APC said in an apparently-choreographed show, some 15 portfolio political parties called a news conference to also announce that they will oppose use of the card reader, vowing to boycott the elections and use a legal process to prevent use of the machine.
The party noted that the syndicated threats were the latest indications of the mortal fear in the corridors of power about the machine that had now become the nemesis of election riggers and manipulators worldwide.
Contrary to the claim by the PDP, the APC noted that Nigerians were ready for free, fair and credible elections to be made possible by the use of the card reader, adding that the citizenry would massively resist any move to dump the machine.
“Nigerians have sacrificed all they can to obtain their PVCs, which are now their most-prized possession. They have also hailed the plan by INEC to use the card reader to give Nigeria credible polls.
“Only dishonest politicians, those who plan to rig, those who have engaged in a massive purchase of PVCs and those who have something to hide are opposed to use of the machine.
“For the avoidance of doubt, our party is ready for any tool, including the card reader, that will ensure that the votes of Nigerians will count in the election. In this regard, we sincerely hope that the nationwide tests of the card reader to be carried out this week by INEC will not be sabotaged by those opposed to the machine.
“The card reader has been demonstrated to work, including at the Senate, and no one must come out to tell Nigerians anything to the contrary.
“The huge investments in providing PVCs for Nigerians will not be worthwhile if the cards would not be authenticated by card readers, which, by the way, have been used in other countries, all of them less endowed than Nigeria, in Africa,” APC said.
It added that it was taking the elections very serious and closely monitoring every move of those who do not want the elections to hold, “or if they must hold at all, only on their terms”.
The statement noted that the APC was aware of an all-night meeting (Wednesday/Thursday) between a Southwest governor and security chiefs on how to rig the rescheduled polls in the geo-political zone. But, the party said it remained convinced that no one was powerful enough to stop an idea, whose time has come.
APC thanked Nigerians, both within and outside the government, for their efforts in keeping a close eye on those planning to sabotage the polls, imploring the citizenry not to relent “since eternal vigilance is the price of freedom”.
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