PDP, INEC have merged to form a rigging machine — Tinubu

by Akan Ido

Former Lagos State governor and chieftain of the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC), Sen Bola Ahmed Tinubu has berated the Independent National Electoral Commission over what he described as the shoddy organization of the voters registration exercise in the state.

Tinubu expressed his displeasure at the conduct of the PVC registration exercise on Saturday during a press conference to address the issue in Lagos on Saturday.

He said, “Just as we (APC) merged to form a formidable opposition party, they have merged with Jonathan to form a formidable rigging machine.

“This exercise is a colossal failure. INEC has the responsibility to give us a date when the exercise would start which they did. They were the ones that picked the date. On the eve of the exercise, they announced they could only carry out the exercise in 11 Local Government Areas out of the 20 recognised by the Federal Government.

“Rather than outright boycott, we endured the frustration and appealed to the public to participate. Our field report and personal experiences indicated that the exercise in those 11 LGAs failed and it is unacceptable. In some instances, you didn’t find INEC and then in some, they did not start on time.”

Tinubu reeled out what he perceived as the failures recorded by INEC in the exercise and concluded that the commission is not ready for the 2015 elections.

He threatened that the APC will stage protests across if the commission does not make necessary efforts to correct the situation.

The APC leader also urged INEC to publish the names of those who were removed from the voter register.

Reacting to the APC chieftain’s allegation, the Chief Press Secretary to the INEC chairman, Kayode Idowu, said there was no reason for the commission to merge with the ruling party.

“INEC has not filed any paper with the country’s Corporate Affairs Commission to be merged with the PDP. It is not a political party,” Idowu said.

He added, “I don’t understand what he meant by INEC merging with the PDP. The Permanent Voter Cards exercise is being conducted without any political colouration. And this exercise is not being conducted in PDP-controlled states alone.”

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