Jega instigated polls postponement –PDP

From TAIWO AMODU, Abuja

Peoples Democrat­ic Party (PDP) Presidential Cam­paign Organisa­tion, (PDPPCO) has again restated its lack of confi­dence in Prof. Attahiru Jega-led Independent National Electoral Com­mission (INEC) to deliver credible general elections.

In an apparent recant of its earlier applause of Prof. Jega for exhibiting the courage to postpone the elections from the original dates to March 28 and April 11 respectively, Di­rector of Media and Publicity of the PDPPCO, Femi Fani- Kayode, told newsmen yes­terday that Jega gave security concern as the reason for shift in polls to cover INEC lack of preparation.

The former Aviation Min­ister further alleged that the INEC chairman had been conniving with the main op­position party, the All Pro­gressives Congress (APC) to manipulate the production, distribution and collection of permanent voters’ cards (PVCs) to deny eligible vot­ers in the geo-political zones that would traditionally vote Jonathan access to their vot­ers’ cards.

Fani Kayode said: “Prof. Jega deliberately failed to tell Nigerians the whole truth that underpinned the post­ponement, thus providing the APC a questionable platform to accuse us of complicity in the decision to postpone the elections.

“We must state here and again that the decision to postpone the elections was INEC’s since it is constitu­tionally saddled with that re­sponsibility.”

Fani Kayode further al­leged that the INEC chairman “has had meetings with APC stalwarts in Dubai and other cities in the world to per­fect this wanton conspiracy against 23 million eligible voters.”

But reacting to the alle­gation against the electoral body, INEC Chief Press Sec­retary, Kayode Idowu, told Daily Sun on phone that the commission would not join issues with the ruling party.

“INEC does not join issues with political parties, because the commission is a dispas­sionate umpire,” he said.



THE SUN