Elections: APC manipulating voters to rig polls in Lagos - PDP alleges

Lagos State chapter of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has raised the alarm over an alleged attempt by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to manipulate the forthcoming elections in its favour.

The opposition party has, therefore, called the attention of President Muhammadu Buhari, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and Usman Baba Alkali, the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) to the development.

The party also drew the attention of well-meaning Nigerians to what it described as the electoral fraud being committed by the state chapter of APC ahead of the 2023 elections.

Hakeem Amode, the publicity secretary of the PDP, who is also the chairman, media and publicity, JandorFunke 2023 Campaign, raised the concern on Monday in Lagos during a press conference he addressed at the campaign office.

Amode alleged that the ruling APC had embarked on voter manipulation, ahead of 2023 polls, by demanding from intended voters information on their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs), saying that the plot had reached a proportion where it is now being aided by the state government apparatus.

This was just as Amode said recent unconfirmed reports received by the party indicated that some unscrupulous INEC staff were colluding with members of the ruling party in the state to deny some groups of people their PVCs.

The PDP spokesperson disclosed that the party had already petitioned the electoral body over the matter, stressing that officials were using their position to collect voters’ information and requesting the submission of photocopies of PVCs as a prerequisite for work permits in transport parks and trading in the markets.

Reacting, however, the Lagos State chapter of the APC said it has become the antics of the PDP in the state to level wild, baseless and unsubstantiated allegations to confuse an undiscerning public, pointing out that Lagos voters were already wary of such.

Spokesperson of the ruling party, Seye Oladejo, who stated this, expressed the belief that the seasonal confusion that always preceded the PDP perennial defeat in the state since in 1999 was rearing its ugly head again, just as he urged the party to look inward and address the intractable crisis which he said had polarised the platform beyond repair.