Presidency, PDP plotting massive elections rigging for 2015 – APC

Nigeria’s main
opposition party, All Progressives Congress
APC has said that it has discovered a
grandiose plan by President Goodluck
Jonathan’s party, the Peoples Democratic
Party to massively rig the presidential
elections in 2015.
On Sunday, the party’s Interim National
Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed
revealed in a statement which alleged that
PDP has initiated the rigging format in its
desperation to “win the general elections at
all cost”.
The statement also revealed the alleged
plans of the PDP and the Presidency to
adopt the use of the police as well as the
military force to control the votes to their
favour by “suppression of votes” in areas
where Jonathan apparently has slim
chances.
APC also alleged that PDP also intends
disenfranchised voters in the zones with
the deployment of the Forces.
But Deputy National Publicity Secretary of
the PDP, Mr. Ibrahim Jalo, in his reaction,
told a reporter that the revelation was
propaganda antics of the opposition party
and that the public should disregard the
allegations.
Mohammed who further explained the
presidency’s game plan said the North-East
and the North-West have been penciled
down as areas where votes must be
suppressed in 2015, through plans to
deploy “special forces’’ to the areas in the
run-up to the 2015 elections.
“The reason these two geo-political zones
have been singled out for ‘vote
suppression’ is because of what the PDP/
Presidency called the ‘voting demographics’
in the zones in 2011.
“The North-West had 18,900,543 registered
voters in 2011 while the North-East had
10,038,119. By contrast, the President’s
‘safe support base’ of South-South and
South-East had 8,937,057 and 7,028,560
respectively, the total of which was less
than that of the North-West alone!
“The dogged pursuit of this action of
dealing with supposed recalcitrant
members has led to suspensions,
expulsions and alienation of some PDP
members, and it was the immediate trigger
of the collapse of the party of tattered
umbrella.”
“The PDP/Presidency therefore believes
that unless the votes in these two zones
are suppressed, and those of the South-
West (14,298,356) stifled one way or the
other, the chances of the President winning
re-election are very slim. Needless to say
that these three zones (NE, NW and SW)
are considered to be hostile to the
President, hence they must be tamed,” he
said.
In his reaction to this, Jalo pointed out that
the people in the two zones are confirmed
PDP members, and that there the party and
the Presidency would have no cause to alter
democratic votes that would emerge from
the two zones.
He recalled that the President had risked
his life and visited the people of North-
East, especially Boko-Haram infested
capital of Borno State, Maiduguri during
the incessant attacks by the insurgents.
Mohammed, however, said that both the
PDP and the Presidency plots to employ a
strategy tagged “Third Force” to deceive
electorates by projecting a performing
Presidency image.
He said the PDP/Presidency’s grand plot
also plans to deal with its rebellious
members, including the governors and
House of Representatives members.
He said while APC was not bothered by the
desperation of the PDP/Presidency to
engage in unfair and foul means to win
elections.
Jalo further reacted saying that Nigerians
should not bother on the propaganda
antics of the APC.
“So, leave APC alone to be making noise.
They are already lamenting even when
election, which we consider as examination
in politics, is still far away, the party is
already looking for excuses to cover up its
expected failure,” Jalo added
He also said that the 2015 elections will be
determine by the devine hands of God and
“only Him knows what will happen then”.
“However, let me say that both the
President and the PDP are only interested
in the provision of good amenities for the
good people of Nigeria.
“APC is not interested in testing its
popularity and even two years before the
general election, it has started crying wolf
where there is none. It is a losing party.
“The APC has lost confidence in itself and
that is why it is crying now even when it
has not been beaten. It should wait till
2015 when it will know that its popularity is
on the pages of newspapers”, Jalo
maintained.