PDP alerts of plots to use APC lawmakers to disrupt 2023 general election

 .As APGA flag-bearer advocates shifting 2023 elections by two weeks

Obiora Ifoh, and Cyril Mbah reporting from Abuja

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has alleged that there are fresh moves by the Tinubu Campaign, in the series of orchestrated plots to derail the 2023 general elections and put our democracy in jeopardy.

The PDP also alleged that the moves by the Tinubu Presidential Campaign to use certain compromised All Progressives Congress (APC) members in both Senate and House of Representatives to create tension in the polity and derail the conduct of the elections.

National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba on a statement said, “There is credible intelligence of how the APC Presidential Candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu allegedly directed his cronies in the APC leadership of both Houses of the National Assembly to reconvene Plenary and use the Legislative Chambers as platforms to promote incendiary speeches with the view to overheating the polity and making it appear unconducive to conduct elections in the country.

“This is in furtherance of the alleged scheme by the APC Presidential Campaign to use all means including APC leadership of the National Assembly to orchestrate security situations that will justify its reported demands to postpone elections as a prelude to the derailment of the electoral process, having realized that it has no chance in the elections.

“Our Party has been made aware of a deceptive design by the APC leadership in both Chambers of the National Assembly to reconvene Plenary under the guise of being concerned about the hardship faced by Nigerians due to the scarcity of new Naira notes induced and aggravated by the exposed sinister diversion of new Naira notes by the Tinubu Campaign.

“Further information indicates that the Tinubu Presidential Campaign, which is reportedly intercepting new Naira notes for vote buying purposes, has also directed the APC leadership in the National Assembly to use their Legislative instruments to pressure and compromise financial institutions to succumb to their cash diversion agenda.

“Nigerians can now note the real motive behind the recent statement credited to the APC leadership of the National Assembly where it attempted to justify its plan to reconvene the National Assembly at this time.

“If indeed the APC leadership of both Chambers of the National Assembly are concerned about the biting cash scarcity, we challenge them to publicly condemn the reported plot by APC leaders and its Presidential Campaign, to clandestinely swap a whopping N22.5 billion in old N1000 notes for new ones in Kano and Lagos States for the purpose of vote buying.

“We also challenge the APC leadership of the National Assembly to commence an investigation into the N22.5 billion fraudulent cash swap report if truly it is concerned about the suffering and anguish Nigerians are facing in accessing the new Naira notes.

“It is instructive to note that the Tinubu Campaign has not denied the reported criminal N22.5 billion cash swap for vote buying. Instead, it has resorted to hauling of insults and lame diversionary claims.

“The PDP advises the APC Presidential Candidate to end his resort to underhand dealings, particularly this attempt to compromise the National Assembly. He should quit the race since he has nothing to offer, instead of seeking to truncate our electoral process.

“In any case, Nigerians have since made up their minds to votes enmasse for the PDP Presidential Candidate, Atiku Abubakar, who genuinely stands with the people and embodies the collective hope and aspiration of Nigerians in the mission to rescue our nation from the misrule of the deceptive, insensitive, corrupt and rudderless APC.”

Meanwhile, The Presidential Candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance [APGA] in the February 25, 2023 general elections, Chief Chekwas Okorie has advocated the shifting of the elections, starting from the presidential polls, by two weeks to enable the Independent National Electoral Commission {INEC) and other relevant stakeholders in the electoral value chain prepare well for the polls to avoid looming failure.

Chief Chekwas Okorie hinged his appeal on the complaints and appeals by the INEC National Chairman, Professor Mahmoud Yakubu, who complained recently that scarcity of petrol and spendable cash has slowed down the mobilization processes of the electoral commission and may affect the outcome of the 2023 general elections.

The Presidential flag-bearer, who emerged victorious recently at the Supreme Court after a protracted litigation with Chief Phillip Umeadi, over the authenticity of the APGA congress election stated in an exclusive interview in Abuja, that all the variable elements surrounding the 2023 general elections points to the fact that INEC and security agencies needed at least two to three weeks or more time to ensure proper preparation for the polls.

He stated that it will be counter-productive and foolhardy on the part of INEC to rush into a national election without adequate preparations based on available evidence just to make an impression about timeliness, consistency and honesty especially if in the end the goal of having a free, fair and credible election is not achieved.

Chief Okorie argued that the electoral umpire requires sufficient funds to pay for several logistics, adequate supply of fuel to power the vehicles that would transport sensitive and non-sensitive electoral materials to the 774 local government areas and wards throughout the 36 states of the federation and Abuja, warning that the cash crunch and fuel scarcity across the nation may have prompted the INEC chairman to raise recent alarm on the matter.

“Let our policy planners sit down with INEC and other stakeholders and see how the elections can be shifted by about two or three weeks so that it can start in March or thereafter to enable the electoral body prepare well.

“I am worried that INEC has raised the red flag about the absence of some of the things it requires for the election. I am also worried about the slow response of the Federal Government to these complaints.

“An election of a national dimension is not a child’s play. We need fuel to transport sensitive and non-sensitive material across the local governments and wards in the 36 states of the federation and since INEC may not have the capacity to move the materials on its own, it requires money to hire the transporters to do the job.

“The electoral body also needs money to buy fuel for its vehicles that will move its staff throughout their areas of posting. We are saying that instead of rushing to do these things just to give the impression that we are meeting a timeline, why not shift the dates by some weeks and perform the actions right and get better results and better credit.

“Many of the political parties are thinking along this line and it would be to the credit of INEC and the Federal Government by extension to get the process right than to rush and make a mess of the entire situation.”

Chief Okorie also complained about the slow process of substituting the name of the former APGA presidential candidate with the name of the new candidate as prescribed by the court ruling on the matter, stressing that the delay points to extraneous influences and a design to undermine the democratic process and deny APGA supporters their rightful place in the general elections.