BY IKECHUKWU NNOCHIRI
ABUJA—Registered opposition political parties yesterday alerted that the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, have allegedly budgeted over N2 billion to purchase voters’ cards in states where President Goodluck Jonathan seemed to be at a disadvantage.

This came as the Labour Party also raised an alarm over PDP’s purchase of voters’ cards for between N5,000 and N10,000 in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja.

Operating under the umbrella body of the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties, CNPP, the parties further alleged that the PDP withdrew the N2 billion from its fixed N6 billion account and has mandated the Strategic Committee to handle the purchase of the cards.

A statement by the National Publicity Secretary of CNPP, Mr. Osita Okechukwu, said while the parties were commending President Goodluck Jonathan for stating clearly that he did not want anybody to rig or manipulate the April presidential elections for him, they also wish to draw the attention of Mr President to the fact that his political party, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, was covertly doing this by buying up voters’ cards from unsuspecting members of the public.

“Our investigations showed that the Acting Chairman of the PDP, Dr Bello Mohammed, and his National Working Committee had withdrawn over N2 billion from the fixed N6 billion PDP account allegedly mandating the Strategic Committee to fund voters’ cards purchase, especially in states where they reason Mr President is disadvantaged, like the North West.

“Ambassador Buba Marwa, the governorship candidate of Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, for Adamawa State raised this alarm to the effect that, ‘the plan to buy and destroy the cards is to rig the forthcoming elections in the state.

“Information available to us revealed that government officials had been criss-crossing the nooks and crannies of the state on a mission to destroy the voter cards. This is because it is apparent that Adamawa electorate would never return the incumbent governor.  This an open secret now.

“To our chagrin, we discovered that it is not only in Adamawa State, as variants of voters’ card buying is ongoing in Katsina, Kano, Bauchi, Kaduna, Rivers, Bayelsa etc.

“In sum, we urge President Jonathan to stop the voters’ cards merchants, more so as the leader of the PDP to query the National Working Committee of his party for engaging in this ignoble act and also to set up a crack team to halt this illegal and undemocratic disenfranchisement of Nigerian voters.”

Meanwhile, Labour Party, LP, has alleged that the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, was buying voters’ cards from registered members of the public within the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, to perfect rigging during the forthcoming 2011 general elections.

The Campaign Organisation of Kayode Ajulo, the party’s FCT senatorial candidate in the April elections, which made the allegation in a petition, said agents of the ruling PDP were paying between N5000 and N10,000 to people to submit their voter’s cards to them in Abuja.

In the petition signed by the Special Assistant on Legal Matters to the LP senatorial candidate, Isaac Akpomoshi Paul, the party promised to prove beyond reasonable doubt if called upon to do so.

Insisting that the pre-election fraud was still on-going in all the area councils in Abuja, the party alleged further that PDP agents were using the one-on-one/ door-to-door campaign into gaining access into the private homes of people in Abuja to make them the offer of selling their voter’s cards

It also alleged that people unwilling to sell their cards were being intimidated and, sometimes, harassed into parting with their cards.

Electoral Act 2010, in Section 23 (1) (c) clearly outlaws such act as it stated that “any person who buys or offers to buy any voters’ card, whether on his own behalf or on behalf of any other person, commits an offence and is liable, on conviction, to a fine not exceeding N500,000 or an imprisonment not exceeding two years or both”.

The petitioner further alleged that some who were gullible enough, were incorporated into the business and asked to become agents in wooing other persons into selling their voter’s card with a register opened for those who were willing to sell, get paid and enlisted as member of the campaign team.

The petition, which was received and acknowledged as received in the offices of Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, and that of the Inspector General of Police, IGP, on Friday read:  “We write to draw your attention to the illegal, fraudulent and wholesale procurement of voter’s card, enticement and harassment of our supporters by Peoples Democratic Party agents in the FCT-Abuja, contrary to Section 23 (1) of Electoral Act, 2011.

“As a campaign organization of Kayode Ajulo, the Labour Party (FCT) Senatorial Candidate with volunteers and supporters in FCT, we have been inundated with complain by members and the supporters of our party criminal activities of some persons believed to be acting for FCT PDP to unlawfully procure our supporters voter’s cards with amount ranging from NGN 5,000 and NGN 10,000.

“The modus operandi of these PDP agents, who can be identified by our supporters is to approach our supporters and members under the guise of doing one-on-one / door-to-door campaign and make the offer of exchanging the voter’s cards with the above mentioned amount, as if this is not enough, these agents also went as far as promising to buy hundreds if available and when our loyal supporters rejected the offer, they were subjected to intimidation and harassment in form of threat and unrelenting visitation.

“Specifically, on the 11th of February 2011, three of our supporters from Jikwoyi, Abuja Municipal Area Council, FCT were individually waylaid wherein a tabulated sheet of paper to record the list of names of registered voters who are ready to sell their voter’s card was given to our supporters to perpetrate illegalities contrary to the Electoral Act and other enabling law.