From TONY JOHN, Port Harcourt

 

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, said it has received reports from credible quarters that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officials in the various local government areas (LGAs) in the state, were conniving with agents of the ruling party in the state, to manipulate the distribution of Temporary Voter’s Slips in the 319 wards of the state.

Spokesman of the party, Mr. Darlington Nwauju, said the action would lead to withholding and destroying of the slips of supporters of opposition political parties, thereby denying them their inalienable rights to collect their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) to vote for their preferred candidates and parties next year.

 

“We, therefore, demand that the INEC should immediately caution its officials serving at the 23 local government areas in Rivers State to avert playing into the hands of politically exposed persons.

 

“We also, by extension, warn that without doing this, the electoral umpire will be casting doubts in the minds of the general public as to its neutrality and readiness to act well within its powers as enshrined in Section 153(f) of the 1999 Constitution as amended.

 

“We call on security agencies in the state to do more in terms of intelligence gathering in order to deal with enemies of the democratic process in the state.”

The spokesman emphasized that the leadership of the APC in the state under Emeka Beke, wished to reiterate their commitment to ensuring a free, fair and credible electoral process in the state.

Meanwhile, the Publicity Secretary of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the state, Tambari Sydney Gbara, has described the APC’s allegation of INEC officials conniving with the ruling party to manipulate the distribution of Temporary Voter’s Slips as baseless.

Gbara said the PDP did not need to manipulate any electoral process to win Rivers election, noting that they (PDP) had just finished sensitization on Permanent Voter’s Cards (PVCs) across the 23 LGAs and would soon start door-to-door enlightenment campaign in the state.

Head of Voter Education and Publicity Department, INEC Rivers State, Mr. Mark Usulor, could not be reached for reaction, at the time of filing the report.