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Buhari, INEC, Zakari plan to alter presidential poll’s results, PDP alleges

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Barely five days to the presidential election scheduled for February 16, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Sunday alleged that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is taking directive from the All Progressives Congress (APC) and President Muhammadu Buhari’s presidency to alter results of the Presidential polls.

The party specifically alleged that INEC has positioned Amina Zakari, as the head of the commission’s collation center to alter results and allocate figures to President Buhari and the APC.

Addressing newsmen in Abuja, the spokesman of the party, Kola Ologbondiyan, said PDP would never allow the Buhari Presidency, the APC as well as Amina Zakari to have their way against the nation.

Fielding questions from newsmen while reacting to the clash between PDP and APC in Abuja, Ologbondiyan blamed the ruling party, accusing the APC supporters of attacking their members and their Vice Presidential candidate.

Ologbondiyan recalled that on February 4, 2019, the PDP handed INEC a 48-hour ultimatum to make public the list of all officials and ad-hoc staff that will play any form of role in the February 16 Presidential election at all levels, for verification by stakeholders.

“That demand was predicated on our findings that the INEC leadership in deferring to directives by Buhari Presidency and the APC had collected lists of APC loyalists from APC state governors and candidates, across the federation to serve as electoral officials, including ad-hoc staff and returning officers at the polling units.

“You will recall that upon our demand the APC openly directed INEC to ignore the PDP and go ahead with its compromised list. Shockingly INEC leadership appeared to have obeyed the APC ostensibly because of threats by the party’s to give its leadership the ‘Onnoghen treatment’ if it fails to comply.

“The world is already aware of how INEC has continued to allow the foisting of a relation of President Muhammadu Buhari, Mrs. Amina Zakari, as the head of the INEC collation center, where she is being positioned to alter results and allocate figures to President Buhari and the APC, in spite of the public outrage against such.

“This is in addition to how the Buhari Presidency has been importing mercenaries from Chad and Niger Republic to vote for President Buhari and to unleash violence in our country upon his eventual defeat.”We had also alerted of plots to manipulate the smart card readers so as to substitute biometric accreditation with manual verification and pave way for mass rigging and allocation of fictitious votes for President Buhari.

“From the foregoing, it is clear to all that the Buhari Presidency and the APC are out to rig the election and that INEC is in clear deficit of the required will to conduct a credible, free and fair election.

“In the light of this, the PDP declares that it will never allow the Buhari Presidency, the APC as well as Amina Zakari to have their way against our nation.”

On the position taken by the party ahead of the election, Ologbondiyan said that PDP has resolved to unbridle, in full measure, all defence machinery legitimately available to it, “including our numerical strength, in marching with millions of Nigerians across our nation to defend our votes, with the stiffest resistance, ever, against any infraction by the APC and the Buhari Presidency.

“Our members and supporters are hereby directed to get prepared to arrive at their polling centers very early on the day of election; monitor the activities of electoral officers, note all strange faces and resist any attempt by any alien or unregistered person to vote.

“Our members and supporters are further directed to remain at the polling center after casting their votes, monitor the collation of result, use all means available to defend all our votes to the last and ensure that no result is altered.

“In this determination, the PDP is ready to confront the Buhari-controlled security forces and APC thugs, head to head, at all levels. For this, we charge our members and supporters to use every means available to them legitimately in a democracy to defend themselves and resist all acts of intimidation by the APC.”Also reacting to the President’s statement, the PDP said President Buhari has failed his integrity test and has no moral rectitude to pontificate on corruption, having entangled himself and soiled his administration in corruption.

The party said if there is any person whose activities of corruption have become a threat to the coming election, it is President Buhari, who is financing his campaign with looted funds, while surrounding himself with politicians indicted for corruption.
PDP in a statement by its spokesperson, Ologbondiyan, said that out of respect for the Office of the President of Federal Republic of Nigeria, it had severally refrained from calling out President Buhari on his various indictments for corruption even during his era as a military ruler.

“A clear reading of Mr. President’s statement today shows that he is not yet aware that Nigerians have decoded his mastery of concealments of corruption in his Presidency and are no longer interested in his failed self-acclaimed fight against corruption.
“President Buhari presides over the most corrupt and incompetent administration in the history of our nation, for which Nigerians are very eager to go to the polls on Saturday to vote him out of office.

“If Mr. President were to be aware, he would have discovered that his entire surrounding reeks of moral, institutional and integrity corruption. But since he has consistently claimed not to be aware of anything around him, it is imperative to let him know that the fish in his pond is rotten from the head”, PDP stated.

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