Exposed: How 300,000 Unclaimed PVCs Were Used For Secret Rigging Of Governorship, House Of Assembly Election – Plateau Election Observers

Yakubu Busari

The political titanic struggle to grabbed power at all cost has forced the politicians in Plateau State to employ the use of unclaimed PVCs to rigged the Governorship, House of Assembly elections scheduled for 9th March 2019 which led to inconclusive exercise.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) explained earlier that many people didn’t come to claim their PVCs owing to challenges of dead persons, relocation and ignorance of the voters to trace their offices for collection.

However, the unclaimed Permanent Voter Cards in its possession to accredit ineligible voters were used by the APC, PDP  for the recent Governorship and State Assembly elections in Plateau State.

Available data showed that,  of the 2,480,455 registered voters in Plateau State, only 2,095,409 voters collected their PVCs, leaving INEC with 385,046 unclaimed cards.

INEC had said it had deposited all the unclaimed cards at the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN for safe keep but a local observer group, Plateau Peace Movement International (PPMI) said the body used the unclaimed cards to carry out “secret accreditation at various corners” in the State.

At a Press conference last Friday in Jos the Plateau State capital, the group led by Rev. Joseph Bot also accused alleged that INEC hired card-carrying members of the ruling All Progressives Congress party as Returning Officers.

The Officers according to PPMI “imported figures to suit their Party” during the polls.

It also accused INEC of denying Observers the chance to monitor elections in some areas while relocating certain collation centers to Government facilities including the State Government House.

“It was gathered that Qua’an-pan, Shendam collation centers were translocated to somewhere in Government House, Rayfield,” the group said.

Aside from the swapping of smart card readers between polling centers, INEC changed result sheets and canceled “genuine votes” in some polling units without ‘tangible’ reasons,” Observed PPMI.

The group, therefore, called for the cancellation of the entire elections in Jos North, Shendam, Wase, Kanam, Qua’anpan, Langtang South and Mikang Local Government Areas.

It also called for the resignation of the Plateau State Resident Electoral Commissioner of INEC, Mr. Halilu Pai.