With the Presidential elections in Nigeria holding in two days, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has listed five strategies to combat any manipulation during the electoral process.
According to Post Nigeria, Osita Chidoka, a former Aviation Minister and Spokesperson/Chairman, Strategy Committee of the PDP Presidential Campaign Council, made the revelation to a Journalist, 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 nationwide 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 results 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 that 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 nationwide 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 stated that 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.”
For those nursing the intent to rig the polls, Chidoka has a word for them: “There will be consequences”, he warned.
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