The apex Igbo socio-cultural body, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has blamed the Independent National Electoral Commission,INEC, for any manipulations they are experiencing from politicians.
The National Publicity Secretary of the apex Igbo socio-cultural body, Dr Alex Ogbonnia laid the blame on the commission, while fielding questions from newsmen.
He said that the commission left openings for such manipulations.
His words; “They ought to be the regulator. They are supposed to regulate the electoral process but the commission that is supposed to regulate the election is now complaining.
“If indeed there is the electronic model they are trying to use, of course, these things will not be happening.
“There is an opening for people to begin manipulating the 2023 elections. Their body language is indicating that maybe they are going away to what they presented to the public.
“They have not provided the proper mechanism to avoid all these irregularities. That is exactly what they have been doing.”
It would be recalled that the National Commissioner in charge of the FCT, Nasarawa, Kaduna and Plateau states, Mohammed Haruna, had raised the alarm that some politicians have been buying up Permanent Voter Cards, PVCs, and financially inducing unsuspecting voters to harvest their Voter Identification Numbers ahead of the 2023 general elections, during the launch of #YourVoteMatters project by an election observer group, NESSACTION, in Abuja, recently.
He said: “We are aware some politicians are more or less buying the PVCs. If you collect the PVC and then you sell it out or allow someone else to have it, you are aiding illegal possession of the PVC which is an offence in our Electoral Act.
