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Nigeriens, Chadians, Sudanese to vote in 2019 – CUPP, PDP
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The Peoples Democratic Party Presidential Campaign Organization (PPCO) and the Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) have said that the plan by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to allow internally displaced persons (IDPs) living in Niger, Chad and Sudan to vote in 2019, is part of the rigging plot of the All Progressives Congress (APC). But, spokesperson of President Muhammadu Buhari Campaign Organisation, Festus Keyamo (SAN) said the allegation was a sign of imminent defeat for the PDP and its allies. Also, the INEC said there was no truth in the report credited to its Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu.
The PPCO and CUPP said in separate statements yesterday that creating polling centres outside the shores of Nigeria was violation of the 1999 Constitution (as amended). The CUPP, in a statement by it spokesperson, Ikenga Ugochinyere, alleged that Governors Nasir el-Rufai (Kaduna), Abdullahi Ganduje (Kano), Aminu Bello Masari (Katsina), Kashim Shettima (Borno) and Ibrahim Gaidam (Yobe) were behind the plot. But aides of the governors told New Telegraph that there was no truth in the allegation.
“Malam Nasir el-Rufai defeated an incumbent governor in 2015, scoring 1.1 million votes. He won by persuading people to vote for him. And he has already started campaigning again for the people’s votes.
Those who are afraid of defeat in 2019 should stop their epidemic of fake news,” the source. An aide to Governor Shettima stated that the CUPP and PDP are purveyors of fake news. Also in league with the plot, according to CUPP, were the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi and an unnamed former head of an intelligence agency.
The coalition further alleged that it has uncovered massive mobilization of Chadian, Nigerien and Sudanese citizens preparatory to their participation in the February 16 presidential election. “We have also uncovered that the plot is targeted at generating nothing less than five million votes for President Muhammadu Buhari in the election.
“It has now become clearer to Nigerians and the entire world the reasons why President Buhari refused to assent to the Electoral Act Amendment Bill presented to him by the National Assembly which would have made the card reader the only means of accreditation of voters for the election,” CUPP stated. It advised the INEC Chairman to retrace his steps and stand with the Nigerian people in these trying times as the nation’s electoral laws prohibit diaspora voting. CUPP called for return of any electoral staff or materials that might have been deployed outside the country for the purpose of illegal and unlawful voting points.
“We consequently urge President Buhari to show some restraint, rein in his desperation and slow down his campaigners who are bent on pushing Nigeria over the cliff, having realised that the Nigerian people have resolved to vote them out next year,” the coalition stated. PDP Presidential Campaign Council, in a statement by its Director, Media and Publicity, Kola Ologbondiyan, said creating illegal polling centres in Chad and Niger Republic was “inexcusably criminal and exposes part of the plot to corrupt our electoral system and massively rig for President Buhari.” “President Buhari, INEC and all Nigerians know that there are no provisions for diaspora voting under our system.
“By the extant laws guiding elections in Nigeria, it is very clear who is eligible to vote, as well as the centres statutorily designated for elections. There is no provision for any special arrangement whatsoever,” PDP said. The campaign council described as reprehensible that President Buhari, in his desperation to rig the elections, was now trying to hide under the guise of making special provision for IDPs outside the country, “to illegally create rigging centres outside the country and import contrived figures into the election results.”
It recalled that PDP, last April, raised the alarm of INEC’s plot to secretly create 30,000 illegal polling centres in some remote areas, and to allocate millions of votes to President Buhari and the APC. PDP campaign council stated that the alleged illegal polling centres outside the country was an indication that the APC and its candidate were not committed to peaceful, credible, free and fair election.
“Having realised that there is no way he can win in a peaceful and credible election, Mr. President is now seeking means to enmesh the 2019 elections in constitutional crisis, public confusion and trigger an imminent violence that is capable of derailing our entire democratic process,” it said. It added that if President Buhari is interested in diaspora voting, he should send an appropriate bill to the National Assembly to accommodate not only Nigerians in Chad and Niger Republic, but also those in other sub-Saharan countries as well as Europe, America and other parts of the world, who have been agitating for diaspora voting. Meanwhile, Keyamo told New Telegraph that the allegation was a manifestation of the PDP leaders’ long stay in Dubai.
“Rumour mongering, false accusation, whipping up sentiment, because they have seen that their defeat is imminent. “These are the people who are talking about issue-based campaign, but they go about peddling fake news, raising false alarm,” he noted. Keyamo said the APC has been calm and peaceful going about its campaign, stating that PDP would again be defeated in the next presidential election.
“One last word to them: their defeat is imminent, it will be comprehensive and decisive,” he boasted. Also, INEC in a statement by Festus Okoye, National Commissioner in charge of Information and Voter Education Committee, described the report as false. The commission assured that there would be “no diaspora or out-ofcountry voting for any Nigerian, in accordance with extant provisions of the Nigerian Constitution 1999 (as amended). “Only duly registered IDPs within Nigeria will be allowed to vote.”
INEC explained that the Framework and Regulations for IDP voting was presented and validated by stakeholders at a conference held in Abuja on Wednesday, adding that there was no reference whatsoever in the remarks made by its chairman during deliberations at the validation meeting. “It should, however, be noted that while IDPs currently residing in states where they registered can vote in all elections, those displaced from their states and are currently living in states other than where they registered can only vote in the presidential election.
“The framework validated by stakeholders at the conference is in consonance with the provisions of Section 26 (1) of the Electoral (Amendment) Act 2015, which provides that ‘in the event of an emergency affecting an election, the commission shall, as far as possible, ensure that persons displaced as a result of the emergency are not disenfranchised,’” the commission added.