The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has released a statement alleging that President Muhammadu Buhari is plotting with the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC chairman, Yakubu Mahmood to compromise and rig the 2019 Presidential election in favour of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
In a press conference he granted to the Press a few hours ago in Abuja, the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Mr Kola Ologbondiyan, said:
“We have received intelligence reports to the effect that the INEC Chairman, Prof. Yakubu Mahmood is contemplating the deployment of past National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members for the 2019 election.
The PDP PPCO totally rejects this ignoble intention which is a ploy to use APC card-carrying members as polls officers in order to rig the election in favour of the APC and President Muhammadu Buhari” he said.
Mr Kola also accused INEC and President Buhari of a plan to use APC members as electoral officers in the forthcoming Presidential election, due to the ongoing strike by ASUU. He said:
“It is very instructive to state that the ongoing ASUU strike has not by any measure evacuated its members from the surface of the earth. Therefore, the strike by ASUU should not be an excuse for INEC to deploy APC members as electoral officers”
“We totally reject these plots to thwart electoral transparency in 2019 and we invite lovers of democracy and global democratic institutions to show more than a passing interest in our democratic process.”
We are also aware that the APCN and President Muhammadu Buhari’s Presidency are mounting pressure on the INEC Chairman to drop the polling unit announcement of results and electronic transmission of results to collation centres from their guidelines ahead of 2019 elections
The INEC Chairman, Prof. Yakubu must not succumb to the pressure of the Buhari’s Presidency, because doing so will definitely set him on a collision course with Nigerians.
This demand has become imperative in the face of allegations and public apprehensions that the INEC Chairman is being offered humongous sums of money, running into billions of naira, by agents of the APC and the cabal at the Buhari Presidency to accede to their demands.” He said.