The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) of laying mines in the way of a successful conduct of 2015 general elections, using its nationwide membership registration as a ruse.
Addressing a press conference on Friday, PDP National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, said the ruling party welcomes the registration exercise, but lamented that APC is using it to create a false platform to fault and protest the 2015 elections once it loses.
Metuh, however, said “It is clear from the statements, actions and the activities of the leaders of the APC, that the opposition has only been changing names without changing its character. Their commitment to being a credible alternative, leaves a yawning a gap in the face of its furious self willed handicap to genuinely contribute in building the fabrics of our democracy.
“Our investigations revealed that part of the plot by the APC is use to this fraudulent membership registration exercise to hype a phantom public support after which it will declare a particular bogus figure and create a false impression of massive public followership ahead of the 2015 general elections.
“We wish to alert Nigerians therefore to the incontrovertible evidence at our disposal to the effect that the APC is sadly and currently using every foul means at its disposal to build a particular membership figure, running into tens of millions, which it intends to use as a justification to fault, dispute, reject and subsequently take to violence when it loses the 2015 general elections.
“This fraudulent membership figure, meant to create an unexisting mass followership is to be maniacally presented, projected and defended by the APC, using its well known unethically hypodermic propaganda tools as an anticipated real voter strength, below which it will carry out its threat to unleash mayhem on the nation as contained in its allegory of” the monkey, the baboon and blood.”
“To achieve this, the APC officials and members have been going round the wards and polling centres, using INEC polling locations and materials as well as lying to unsuspecting Nigerians that the party’s membership registration is an INEC voter registration exercise for the 2015 elections. This is to hoodwink them into registering as members of APC”..
The PDP also alleged that pupils and students are being lured or persuaded “to get the passport photographs of their parents and guardians, which are thereafter secretly affixed to the APC membership forms without the knowledge of the innocent students or their parents”.
Metuh, condemned what it called “brazen hijack of INEC polling booths for a partisan membership registration. The unlawful use of INEC polling booths is a clear violation of laid down electoral norms and rules that safeguard their sanctity for the purpose of elections and against illegal conversion for partisan reasons”.
The ruling party took a swipe at INEC for keeping mum while the APC “fraudulently uses its name for this infamous agenda. By trying to build a phantom membership, the party forgot that no structure pivoted on sand can survive the pull of winds.
“They also forgot that the whirlwind of membership fraud they are attempting to sow will be bountifully rewarded with massive storm of electoral mishap. Though we are not surprised by the development, we did not however reckon that desperation to grab power has taken this dimension so early in the day”.
Metuh, reminded the APC leadership that no political party has the monopoly of mischief and that this level of grand deceit is actually a monumental crime against democracy.
“We therefore wish to inform Nigerians that the APC membership registration is not an INEC organized civic exercise as they have been made to believe but one of the numerous APC’s deceitful schemes to steal their mandate”.
