Gyang Bere, Jos
Plateau State Governorship Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Senator Jeremiah Useni has cautioned the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that he will not accept rigging and allocation of votes to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) during the Saturday rerun election.
He expressed confidence that he will coast to victory at the end of the supplementary polls.
Sen. Useni disclosed this during a press briefing on Wednesday at his residence in Jos, urging security personnel to stay clear from the affected polling units and allow voters to exercise their franchise.
“I promised the people of Plateau that I would stand by them and protect their votes; I also cautioned that I would not accept rigging; Today, I still stand by my words,” Useni said.
“After due consultation, we have decided to take specific legal steps to address areas of concern in the last elections. This includes a petition to INEC, and we hope they will look into it as quickly as possible; for my candidature is aimed at restoring our lost glory as a people and state.”
Useni, a retired military General, cautioned against the deployment of security personnel to harrass and intimidate people at polling units and collation centres, urging them to remain neutral.
He said there was no reason for the governorship election in Plateau to be declared inconclusive by INEC if votes were not allocated to the ruling APC candidate.
“As the flag bearer of our party, I did not expect an inconclusive conclusion; the Plateau PDP State Campaign Council, stakeholders and all supporters of the PDP worked very hard for an outright win.
“The results released by INEC showed that PDP maintained very good scores across all the LGAs. This is in spite of the widespread thumb printing, vote-buying and outright intimidation by some security men who had absolutely no business with the election.
“In one instance, I personally went out to Tudun Wada Collation Centre and freed voters who were made to lie down on the ground by some security men.”
Useni reiterated his position that he will spend only one tenure of four years and hand over leadership to Plateau Central if favoured by the rerun.