Osun State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of planning to deny eligible voters in the state their rights to vote by withholding their permanent voter’s cards.(PVC).
A statement made available to newsmen in Osogbo yesterday by the party’s caretaker committee chairman in the state, Dr Akindele Adekunle, noted that he has been inundated with several calls from almost all parts of the state on the consistently similar allegations of INEC denying prospective voters their PVC.
Akindele said several reports from different communities and electoral wards in the state suggest that while INEC has been reluctant to release PVC to thousands of registered voters, some of them were being directed by APC agents hanging around the collection centers designated by INEC.
He described the current gale of excuses by INEC field officials in refusing residents of the state their PVCs as strange and utterly worrisome, after the state Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mr Abduganiyu Olayinka Raji had gone on national radio announcing availability of the cards and even, with ample time to sort same before embarking on distribution across the local governments.
He warned INEC to perish any attempts to embark on secret voter registration with the All Progressive Congress to inflate the current figure on the current voters register in order to augment or make up for perceived APC’s electoral deficits.
Osun PDP reminded INEC that the party and indeed all political parties in Osun State are already in possession of current numbers on the voter register in each of the 3,763 polling units in the state and it will be suicidal for the election management body to allow itself to be forced into such a dangerous mission with APC.
“Osun as at today is too tensed to toy with by any agency or institution of government and it will be too unfortunate for INEC to make itself available as willing tool to test people’s resolve on the July 16 governorship election in the state”
“History will no doubt, not bee too kind to INEC on any crisis erupting from careless handling of election matters by a mere election umpire in a state. If Osun State is not bedeviled with ethnic or communal crisis, igniting such on the alter of desperation of one man will be carelessness taken too far,” the PDP warned.
Osun PDP therefore called on the people of the state not to give in to alleged fraudulent antics of APC, but instead troop out to their various wards and local governments designated by INEC for PVC distribution, to collect their cards without minding frustration tactics of INEC officials.
