2019 Election; PDP Plans Its Own Results Collation, APC Reacts

2019 Election; PDP Plans Its Own Results Collation, APC Reacts

With a plan to collate results of tomorrow’s presidential election, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday set the stage for a dispute – according to the Federal Government.

The opposition party said it had put in place a Parallel Voting Tabulation (PVT) system to collate results. It is deploying 40 million of its members for the job.

But the All Progressives Congress (APC) said it was all a plot to rig the election.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is the only authority for the collation and announcement of results.

The PDP’s campaign spokesman and chairman of its Strategy Committee, Osita Chidoka, told a news conference in Abuja described PVT as a “scientifically proven and a best-practice technique” designed to keep umpires on their toes.

Chidoka, specifically said the PDP would be transmitting the results as certified by the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) officers at the polling units.

“The PDP has pivoted from recruiting first-time polling agents to recruiting high quality, educated individuals, whose maturity and experience will help them manage and mitigate against challenges on election day,” Chidoka said.

Reacting, Information, Culture & Tourism Minister Lai Mohammed said the PDP was planning to create chaos by creating a parallel electoral umpire.

The PDP’s plan is a flashback to the June 14, last year governorship election in Ekiti State. Former Governor Ayodele Fayose was announcing results from the Government House on the state-owned television and radio stations. He claimed to be relying on results collated by PDP agents from the polling units.

The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) shut down the stations and penalised them. They were re-opened after paying fines.

The Minister said the opposition resorted to the tactic, having realised that it could not win free, fair and peaceful elections. He spoke in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, after an interactive session with retirees and pensioners.