Osun Governorship Re-Run: CUPP Alleges Plot by INEC To Manipulate Election
* Demands Immediate Release of list of Collected PVCs in Affected Polling Units
Opposition political parties under the banner of Coalition of United Political Parties, (CUPP) has said it has uncovered plans by some national officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission {INEC} to tamper and manipulate Thursday’s governorship re-run election in Osun State in favour of the ruling All Progressives Congress {APC} with uncollected Permanent Voter Cards{PVCs}.
Addressing journalists in Abuja on Monday, National Publicity Secretary, Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere said the plot is being coordinated by a Senior INEC National Officer from the Southwest.
“We wish to alert the public that INEC in furtherance of this move being coordinated by an INEC Senior Officer from the South West has refused to release the official list of people who have collected PVC’S at the 7 polling units where election is to be held”, he said.
He said his group has it on good authority that “less than 1000 registered voters who have collected their PVCs are eligible to participate in the actual voting process out of a total number of 3,498 registered voters.
The group therefore asked INEC to immediately release the list to the public; pointing out that the current delay is a calculated plot to rig the election with a fictitious number of uncollected PVCs for APC.
Ugochinyere said part of the plot was to reintroduce the use of Incidence form to accommodate the finger prints of those who will be imported to use the uncollected PVCs.
The group said it is also aware of plans by APC using the ICT Unit of the INEC to secure the confidential telephone numbers of registered voters of the re-run polling units to harrass some of them and bribe others ahead of the polls.
It also raised alarm over alleged arrests and harassments of some of its members in Osun by the Police streesing that it was shameful that APC could resort to such crude tactics to ” steal the mandate of the people”.
The group said even though INEC performed creditably well in the deployment of men and materials for last Saturday’s election; it insisted that all the electoral officers who were fingered or arrested in their attempt to subvert the will of the people of Osun must be brought to justice.
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