The
vice-presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Mr Peter Obi, has
accused the Independent National Electoral Commission of disenfranchising over
eight million eligible voters in the South-East during the February 23
presidential election.
He
said the election was deliberately programmed to ensure that the zone did not
participate fully.
Obi
made the allegation on Tuesday at a press conference held in Onitsha, Anambra
State.
He
said that out of the 10 million registered voters in the zone, only about 20
per cent were able to cast their votes.
He
said, “You will recall that on election day, I said the process was clumsy and
we also had a major problem with malfunctioning card readers. Most people
couldn’t vote as a result.
“When
over 4,000 card readers got burnt, it became clear that something was wrong
somewhere and the Independent National Electoral Commission could neither save
the situation nor allow people to vote manually.
“But
in some other parts of the country, people were allowed to vote manually and it
was accepted by the electoral body.
“How
can you tell me that states like Yobe and Borno produced more voters than
Anambra and Ebonyi states put together?
“The
two states have been at war. I wonder how they got card readers that were
working so well, despite the war situation in which they found themselves.”
Obi
noted that Nigeria failed to build on the achievements of the 2015 general
election.
-
Punch
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