A Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress ( APC ), Yekini Nabena has accused the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of being responsible for the disappearance of 63 card readers declared missing by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in five local government areas of Bayelsa state after the Presidential and national assembly elections.
Nabena who is also the Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the APC is therefore, asking the main opposition and the state governor, Serieke Dickson to immediately return the card readers to the commission.
In a statement made available to newsmen in Abuja, Nabena alleged that PDP leaders were planning to use the card readers to rig the Saturday’s State House of Assembly election in the state in favour of their candidates.
INEC had declared the card readers missing, listing the affected Local Government Areas where the card readers were used to include Brass, Sagbama, Southern-Ijaw, Nembe and Yenagoa.
The Bayelsa-born APC national officer asked the leadership of INEC and the security agencies to ensure that all the stolen Card Readers are recovered before this Saturday’s election.
Only the State House of Assembly election will be held in Bayelsa state as the governorship election is not due until 2020.
Nabena said: “The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) must be mindful of the desperate plan by the Governor of Bayelsa State, Seriake Dickson and the PDP to use the stolen card readers to rig the State House of Assembly elections in Bayelsa state.
“INEC and security agencies must ensure that all 63 stolen card readers are recovered before Saturday. In the meantime, INEC should urgently embark on the reconfiguration of its card readers deployed for the Bayelsa State Assembly elections, following reports of attempts by PDP leaders in the state to hack the card readers.
“The stolen card readers is among a list of strategies the rejected PDP government in Bayelsa state plan to deploy to rig Saturday’s elections. I had earlier alerted of Governor Dickson’s arms buildup and the illegal activities of the state security outfit, Operation Doo Akpo which is being used by the governor and other PDP chieftains to aid rigging of elections in the state.”