Barring any change in their plan, the Nigerian presidency
and the Peoples Democratic Party [PDP] will any moment from now begin to
instigate protests against the Independent National Electoral Commission [INEC]
as a way of forcing the commission to postpone the February 14 and 28 general
elections.
Presidency and PDP insiders told this newspaper Thursday
that as part of the plot to postpone the elections, women and youth groups
across the country would be procured to march on INEC headquarters and state
offices with placards, complaining about the electoral body’s refusal to
deliver their Permanent Voter Cards [PVC] to them.
The protesters will then call for a postponement of the
election so they would not be disenfranchised.
A source familiar with the matter, but who declined to be
named for security reasons, said the protesters are expected to gather in INEC
offices to protest the inability of the commission to distribute the Permanent
Voters Card and ask for the postponement of the elections.
“The protest will begin in Abuja after which similar ones
will hold in various offices across the country, billions of naira has already
been approved,” our source said.
He also said the latest move is a follow up to the kite
flown by the National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, calling for the
postponement of the polls on account of INEC’s inability to distribute PVCs.
Mr. Dasuki called for the postponement in London, while
addressing an audience at Chatham House.
However, the INEC Chairman, Attahiru Jega, has stated that
the measures taken by the Commission for the distribution of PVCs would be
enough to overcome the challenges being faced in the distribution of the cards.
INEC also said it has so far distributed 42.77 million PVCS
out of the 68.8 million registered voters, representing 62.15 per cent.
Since Mr. Dasuki’s call for postponement of the polls,
several Nigerians and groups, especially, the All Progressives Congress, APC,
have maintained that the Presidency and the ruling Peoples Democratic Party,
PDP, are pushing for postponement because of the fear of failure.
The PDP and Presidency have both denied being behind the
postponement move.
But our source said Wednesday’s meeting has confirmed that
PDP officials wanted more time to explore ways of turning around what appears a
“change” momentum in the country.
“They agreed that the best thing to do is to force a
postponement to allow the party recover effectively,” another presidency source
said.
“They also agreed that the momentum to attack the integrity
of General Buhari must be maintained before any election is allowed,” he said.
The spokesperson for the PDP presidential campaign, Femi
Fani-Kayode, as well as the Special Adviser to the President on Political
Matters, Rufai Alkali, could not be reached to comment for this story.
While Mr. Fani-Kayode’s telephone lines failed to connect,
Mr. Alkali did not answer or return calls.
The spokesperson for the APC, Lai Mohammed, had issued a
statement Wednesday saying, a newspaper advert plainly calling for election
shifts has the imprint of the PDP and Presidency.
”There is no clearer indication that the PDP and the
Presidency are the puppeteers behind the election shift campaign than
Wednesday’s newspaper advertorial plainly campaigning for the polls to be
shifted.
”This advert, which has the picture of President Goodluck
Jonathan and the logo of the PDP – meaning they will be the sole beneficiaries
of the postponement they are seeking – leaves no one in doubt that the ruling
party and the presidency are pathologically dishonest, deliberately deceptive
and chronically terrified about the elections,” Mr. Mohammed said.
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