Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
Ahead of the November 16 Bayelsa governorship election, the All Progressives Congress (APC), has pleaded with President Muhammadu Buhari and the relevant security agencies to urgently unravel the truth in the report of mass production of fake Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs).
There have been reports that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is involved in the large scale production of PVCs which has already been codenamed the “Biafra card”.
However, the ruling party, in a statement signed by the Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Yekini Nabena, urged President Buhari to urgently direct security agencies, anti-corruption agencies and other relevant bodies to come to the aid of Bayelsa people.
“We are receiving real time reports that the PDP, the government and its agencies are manufacturing fake PVCs codenamed “Biafra card” inside the Government House. Some of the manufactured fake PVCs are at the residence of the aides to the governor.
“Don’t forget that during the 2019 Presidential and National Assembly election in Bayelsa state, only 22 smart card readers out of the 69 stolen by political thugs were retrieved by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
“The PDP and the state government are planning to configure the 47 smart card readers still in their possession with the fake PVCs which they are currently mass producing. I call on our security and intelligence agencies to urgently carry out strategic raids to stop their illegal operations, retrieve the smart card readers and mop up the fake PVCs which they have codenamed “Biafra card.”
“The outgoing governor of Bayelsa state, cannot continue to hide under the cloak of immunity to perpetuate the alleged ongoing stealing of state funds and last-minute sale of state assets, election fraud, violence, impunity against Bayelsans.
“We call on President Muhammadu Buhari to urgently direct security agencies, anti-corruption agencies and other relevant agencies to come to the aid of Bayelsans. We also call on INEC to rise up to the occasion of being on the watch out for the likely fake PVCs in the forthcoming governorship election in Bayelsa,” he appealed.
The APC chieftain also urged voters in the state to resist the desperate plots of the outgoing administration in the state to foist the PDP governorship candidate on them through rigging, vote-buying and violence.
“As earlier said, the popularity and wide acceptance of the APC governorship candidate, David Lyon is apparent and giving the PDP sleepless nights. The PDP’s nightmares will soon be over after Bayelsans vote them out on November 16,” Nabena stated.