The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Kebbi State has assured of free, fair, credible and acceptable elections on Saturday.
The commission renewed its commitment against allegations by the People’s Democratic party (PDP) that there was a plan to rig the gubernatorial and state assembly elections in the state.
According to the development in Birnin Kebbi the Deputy Director, Voter Education and Publicity, INEC, Kebbi State, Alhaji Muhammadu Rabi’u, said the allegations were mere speculations.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the PDP had alleged a plan to delay BVAS accreditation process as well as add unaccredited voters to cause outright cancellation of some polling units.
Rabi’u said: “There is nothing like that, anybody who comes on election day has to present his/her PVC before accredited and authenticated then be allowed to vote, so, there is no way you can delay accreditation.
“And anywhere we have problem with our BVAS, we have backup BVAS to replace the non-functional ones.”
On adding unaccredited voters to cause outright cancellation of elections, Rabi’u said “there is no way anybody who don’t register in a polling unit can come there and want to vote because nobody vote without PVC”.
Rabi’u assured that any of the ad-hoc staff that compromised his/her official position in favour of any political perty would certainly be arrested and prosecuted according to the laws of the land, hence the need for them to remain neutral, honest and transparent throughout the election process.
He appealed to electorate to be calm and come out enmasse to exercise their civic responsibility, assuring that INEC had already put all the necessary machinery in place towards conducting free, fair and credible elections across the state.
Addressing newsmen earlier, Alhaji Abubakar Shehu, the Director-General, PDP Gubernatorial Campaign Council, said: “The Kebbi State Gubernatorial Campaign Council has discovered a hatched plan by some undemocratic element to rig the forthcoming Gubernatorial and State Assembly elections on Saturday, March 18
