APC warns against moves to compromise INEC

All Progressives Con­gress (APC) has al­leged that President Goodluck Jona­than’s decision to summon Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commis­sion (INEC), Attahiru Jega, to a meeting not attended by other political parties in Abuja on Tuesday is part of moves to compromise the in­tegrity of the electoral com­mission, expected to be fair and neutral.

In a statement issued in Abuja yesterday by its Na­tional Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said it was wrong for the president, who is a candidate in the forthcoming election, to summon the electoral umpire at will, especially when such meetings were populated by his appointees.

‘’Without the representa­tives of other political parties attending such meeting, irre­spective of whether or not it is aimed at briefing security chiefs on the preparations for the polls, the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its presidential candidate are seeking to gain undue advan­tage over others ahead of the elections.

‘’It is like the referee in a football match meeting with key officials of one of the teams ahead of the match. This is against the spirit of transparency and fairness and must stop forthwith.

“Had the representatives of other political parties apart from the PDP (the president is the leader of the PDP) at­tended the meeting, the wide­spread speculations that Jega’s life and job were threatened if he fails to drop the use of the card readers, as well as cir­culating reports that he will be removed before Saturday, would not have happened.’’

The APC insisted that what­ever briefings must be given by the INEC chairman on the elections should have in at­tendance the representatives of all the political parties that would participate in the elec­tions.

It also decried alleged clan­destine meetings between Presidency and INEC officials with a view to rigging the elec­tions, warning the Presidency to steer clear of the electoral officials if indeed it was desir­ous of a free, fair, credible and peaceful election.

Meanwhile, the party has said the Presidency and the PDP should not be allowed to profit from their sponsorship of ethnic militias, including Movement for the Actualiza­tion of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) and Ood­ua Peoples Congress (OPC), to create chaos and violence before, during and after the elections.

It alleged that the plot by the duo was to make the coun­try unsafe before the polls, so that members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), who were to serve as electoral officials, would no longer par­ticipate in the elections out of fear for their lives.