As preparations are ongoing for the Presidential election slated for Saturday, February 16, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has listed five strategies it believes would prevent what it called the manipulation of the electoral process.
Former Aviation Minister and spokesperson/chairman, Strategy Committee of the PDP Presidential Campaign Council, Osita Chidoka made this known to a journalist today while speaking in Abuja.
According to Chidoka, the PDP has in place, “A state-of-the-art Parrell Voting Tabulation, PVT system, a national network of fully equipped Situation Rooms and Call Centres, a nation-wide hotline for the public to report malpractice as well as the launch of a hashtag, #DefendYourVote, among others.
On the rationale for deploying the PVT, Chidoka explained that the device “is a scientifically proven, best practice technique, to hold election authorities accountable, particularly when there is a lack of trust and the result are highly contested.”
He added that the PVT would ensure that PDP partisans “accept the results of the election and that the country remains peaceful and respectful of its differences,” adding that some civil society organisations would also have their PVTs in place.
The PDP chieftain further explained: “Our methodology accounts for several different scenarios to ensure continued collation of the results in the event of any disruptions with collation process.
“Hard copies of the signed voter tally provided to all party agents by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC officers, will be transported to the central command center should future disputes need to be reconciled.”
And unlike in the past, Chidoka said the party would deploy a huge number of well trained and educated agents to each of the 176, 000 polling units nationwide.
He spoke further on other strategies aimed at ensuring that the polls mirror the will of the electorate.
“PDP has established a reporting system for the PVT through the wards to the district headquarters, to the states and to the national tally centre,” he added
A nation-wide hotline for the public to report infractions has been launched by the party even as the ex-Minister explained that the PDP “is providing multiple-line inbound call centre linked to a single hotline number: 097000551 for voters to report any incidence of violence or electoral malpractice.”
The #DefendYourVote campaign, another strategy unveiled by the party according to Chidoka is targeted at Nigeria’s largest voter block (18-25 years-old), adding that “a set of 12 easy-to-follow guidelines has been communicated to voters.”
While warning against the a recap of what he called the “Osun playbook, Chidoka said the PDP has adopted international best practices, including “establishing a robust elections results management system,” coupled with its “wide array of intelligence collectors and patriotic public servants who are resolute in defending the constitution and the integrity of our electoral process.”
He also noted that the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, may want to re-enact what happened in Osun in Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Kaduna, Kano and Rivers states, stressing however that PDP was equal to the task.
For those nursing the intent to rig the polls, Chidoka has a word for them：“There will be consequences,” he warned.
source https://www.naijanews.com/2019/02/13/2019-pdp-lists-five-strategies-to-counter-rigging-malpractice/
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