The chairman of the People’s Democratic Party Governor’s Forum, Godswill Akpabio has said the results of the test run of the use of permanent voter’s card and card reader technology conducted by INEC on Saturday has proved that the technology was burdensome and and ineffective to voters accreditation.
Akpabio spoke to journalists at the Eko Hotel and Suites venue of the meeting of PDP GF. Other PDP governors that attended were Jonah Jang (Plateau), Babangida Aliyu (Niger), Ayo Fayose (Ekiti) and Olusegun Mimiko (Ondo), Mukthar Yero (Kaduna), Ibrahim Shema (Katsina) and Liyel Imoke (Cross River).
The party’s governorship candidate in Lagos State, Jimmy Agbaje, was also at the meeting.
Before the interactive session titled ‘Sustenance of Democratic Values and National Development,’Akpabio told newsmen that the governors were meeting to discuss and strategise on the best to consolidate on the PDP’s presence in the south-west.
“We came here to brainstorm on how to win the election and how to take Southern Nigeria. We expect to win on the first ballot. PDP cannot panic, we have presence in over 120,000 polling units and PDP is a national party,” Governor Akpabio said before the meeting entered into closed session.
“We are going to discuss all issues. Unlike others, we have a responsibility to Nigerians. It is our responsibility, we will look at all the issues bordering on the election. Many have not received PVCs. Would you allow 80 percent to be disenfranchised?” he said.
“If the election had been held, there would have been serious opposition. We have a responsibility to ensure stability. Even the press did not receive their PVCs. Supposing only 22 per cent voted, would the election have been credible? We want to discuss and strategise to ensure we have free and fair elections.”
Akpabio said Nigerians should be grateful to the PDP for ensuring that the country had the longest span(16 years) of democracy.
He said, “The continued quest of the PDP-led Federal Government for free, fair and credible elections is witnessed in President Goodluck Jonathan’s robust support through adequate and sustained funding as well as the free hand given to INEC to operate.
“But surprisingly, in our own opinion, INEC appears ill-prepared for the 2015 elections. For example, at the time the polls were shifted due to security concerns, over 23 million registered voters had yet to collect their PVCs and you know there are some countries with populations of about just three million.
“Twenty-three million would amount to disenfranchising more than five West African countries in their own elections.
“It will be recalled that even the INEC chairman(Prof. Attahiru Jega) admitted on the floor of the Senate that over one million PVCs had yet to be printed in far away China.
“According to the INEC chairman, the postponement was a blessing in disguise. How then can Nigerians reconcile the purported readiness of INEC for the February 14 election with the testing of card readers more than a month after the postponement? More than three weeks after the elections have been shifted, they are then testing the card readers that would have been used. Given the failure rate of the card readers during the recent mock exercise, it is apparent that many Nigerians will be disenfranchised even when they are registered to vote.
“We re-assert that on no account should any registered voter be disenfranchised for non-possession of PVC even when the person has a TVC when it is not due to one’s own personal fault; even when the card reader has rejected or refused to recognise the thumbprint or the battery is dead and there is no electricity in that area to charge it.
“We don’t want anyone disenfranchised and we are pleading also that elections should not be shifted again because the impression is that we were not ready for elections even though we know that we would have won the elections if they had been allowed to hold.”
While also speaking to journalists, the governor of Cross River State, Liyel Imoke, said INEC’s chairman’s integrity was in doubt. He also said it would be a misnomer for INEC to disenfranchise anyone on the account of card readers.
He said, “The facts are before us. The testing of card reader and its failure have not been addressed. PVCs remain unprinted as we speak. INEC has no right whatsoever to disenfranchise any Nigerian.
“I will appreciate it if the media can focus on this issue. I will not want to go to a polling unit and be told that as a result of no fault of mine, my card was rejected. My picture is on my PVC, it looks like me and it is me but because the card reader cannot recognise my fingerprint, I will not be allowed to vote?
“So for us, it is important that we understand democratic values and appreciate that the values of democracy rest squarely on equity and the right of every Nigerian to participate in the process of selecting their leaders.”
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