By Peter Duru – Makurdi

Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State, Wednesday, alerted that politicians were fueling the security challenges in northern states in order to ensure that elections did not take place in such areas in 2023 to enable them rig the elections.

He warned anyone planning to rig elections in Benue state to say his last prayers because Benue people were fully mobilized to check any plans to subvert their wishes expressed through the ballot.

He urged President Muhammadu Buhari to save the country from the evil machinations of such politicians by not signing into law the Electoral Act amendment bill if it did not provide for the electronic transmission of election results.

The Governor spoke Wednesday to Journalists at the Makurdi Airport on his return from the Abuja where he attended an expanded Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, stakeholders meeting as well as the PDP Governors Forum meeting.

He said Nigeria could not be seen to be retrogressing when other nations of the world were moving ahead to better the lot of their people saying without the provision for electronic transmission the votes of Nigerians would not count in 2023.

He stated that members of the All Progressives Congress, APC, who were the majority in the National Assembly moved against the wishes and aspirations of Nigerians who elected them into office by failing to give them what they desired which was the electronic transmission of result all because they had prepared themselves to rig the 2023 elections.

The Governor said, “do you know that in most states in the north today the security challenges are created by politicians to ensure that no election takes place so that they will rig the election.

“And this is what is going on, and honestly like I said before, I want to advise Mr. President that there is no need to sign the amended Electoral Act without the provision for electronic transmission of results. I think we have come of age, we cannot be going back to analogue when the entire world is going digital. Everything is going digital, whether television, radio, cars everything today.

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“So Mr. President must have a rethink, let him not take Nigerians from top to bottom, but rather let’s use the remaining period we have to take Nigerians from bottom to top; so that we can get things right in this country.

“And I think that any attempt to continue to do manual transmission of election results will deny voters the right to vote and to have their votes count which Mr. President promised.

“In the contrary, what they will do is that the officials who are manning the process will be the voters themselves and they will manipulate figures to suit themselves.

“So let every Nigerian have the right to cast his or her vote and let that vote count. But from what we have seen the intention is to make sure that our votes did not count.

On the outcome of the PDP meetings, he disclosed that the party had amicably resolved its internal wrangglings and was poised for victories in future elections saying all parties endorsed the October National Convention date which would be done in line with the party’s constitution.

The Governor said the party had resolved to remain focused in the face of intimidation and blackmail from the ruling APC stressing that the PDP was prepared to take Nigeria from bottom to top and not top to bottom as APC promised Nigerians in 2015.

According to him, PDP had learnt its lessons and would serve as a beacon of hope for the country’s democracy as a party that was people oriented with the capacity to provide a better alternative. He said the 13 Governors elected on the party’s platform remained united in promoting its interest above other considerations.

The Governor noted that APC had failed Nigerians on all fronts including economy, security and its mantra of anti-corruption fight, stressing that Nigerians had been abandoned to their fate by the ruling party.

On claims by the APC that it registered five million members in Benue state, the Governor said “we won three Senatorial seats, seven House of Representatives seats, 22 State Assembly seats and we took the governoship position. So where did they get the figure from? Well, it’s their usual 419 in preparatory to rig but we are not going to give them an inch. And I tell you we are fully mobilized, anyone that comes here to rig the 2023 elections should say his last prayer.”

Vanguard News Nigeria