The
All Progressives Congress (APC) has decried the delay in distributing
the permanent voters cards to registered voters in the state ahead of
the Aug. 9th 2014 governorship election in Osun state, warning that it
might be a ploy to disenfranchise voters.
''INEC
has been painfully slow in processing the permanent voters cards, and
one can only hope that the electoral body is not doing this deliberately
to disenfranchise voters, especially in opposition strongholds,'' the
party said in a statement issued in Lagos on Sunday by its National
Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.
''The slow
processing of the permanent voters cards has in particular hit the
Central Senatorial District of the State, and has affected those who had
earlier registered as well as those who registered this year,'' it
said.
APC
said INEC has continued to tell those who throng its offices in the
state to collect their permanent voters cards that the cards are not
ready, without giving an indication of when they will be ready for
collection.
''If INEC has no diabolical plan, then it should speed up the processing of the permanent voters cards. We say this based on
the
reported announcement by the REC in Osun State that whoever does not
possess a permanent voters card will not be allowed to vote in the Aug.
9th election,'' the party said.
It
urged INEC to maintain its neutrality during the forthcoming election,
and to ensure it does not do anything that can affect the credibility of
the commission or the integrity of the election.
APC recalled
that a few days before the Ekiti governorship election on June 19th,
INEC Chairman Attahiru Jega had told stakeholders that the commission
would use colour-code ballot papers to ensure that ballots meant for one
local government are not taken to another.
''However, not only did INEC not use colour-coded
ballot papers in the Ekiti election, it never felt the need to explain
its sudden volte-face. This is a blow to the integrity of INEC and we
hope it won't be repeated,'' the party said.
Meanwhile, the APC has raised the alarm over a
multi-pronged strategy by the federal authorities to skew the
forthcoming gubernatorial election in Osun State favour of the PDP, just
like they did in Ekiti State last month.
The party said the dubious strategy by the federal
authorities involves using the military and other security agencies to
lock down the state days ahead of voting as well as an ongoing starving
of the state of funds so it cannot meet its obligations.
''Whereas Ekiti was locked down about three days to
the election in the state, indications are that Osun will be locked down
at least a week before the state's poll, while the security agencies
will again be used to harass, intimidate and arrest opposition
politicians just like they did with impunity in Ekiti.
''We are raising the alarm now so the world can see
that any election can only be described as free and fair if the entire
process is transparent and not skewed in favour of any of the parties.
We insist that election is a process, and that whatever happens on
election day is only but a part of the whole.
''Therefore, we demand a level playing field for all
the candidates before, during and after the Osun election. We reject
any plan to use of the military and other security agencies to lock down
the state and to harass, intimidate and arrest opposition members. We
call on local and international observers to take note of these and
other anomalies ahead of the Osun poll,'' it said.
Alhaji Lai Mohammed
National Publicity Secretary
All Progressives Congress (APC)
Lagos, July 6th 2014
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