Politics

Labour Party Charges INEC to Intensify PVCs’ Issuance

The National leadership of Labour Party (LP) on Wednesday called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to intensify the distribution of Permanent Voter’s Cards (PVCs) to Nigerians as the elections draw nearer.

Speaking during a press briefing in Enugu, to announce the party’s rally coming up today in the state, the spokesman of LP Presidential Campaign Council, Dr. Yunusa Tanko, urged INEC to increase manpower and extend collection center to every pulling units in the country to ease the collection.

“I am disappointed with the level of issuance of voter’s cards across the country. The turnout is much but the process of collecting it is quite difficult.

“The number of uncollected cards remain the same because the process is very difficult. The queue is very much in every collection center but few people were able to collect it at the end of the day. They are frustrating the people.

“INEC should use any legal power to shift the closing date for collection or any other means to make sure they didn’t disenfranchise people from voting,” he said.

Tanko, also expressed dissatisfaction over the upcoming new BBnaija reality show, tagged: “The Titans,’ alleging that it was sponsored by politicians to distract youths from participating in the general election.

“We want to alert the ever vibrant Nigerian youths of the hidden agenda behind the new reality show tagged: ‘The Titans,’ designed to hit the airwaves by January 15 barely 40 days to general election.

“We have credible information that it’s being sponsored by one of the major opposition parties to distract the Nigerian youths from changing the leadership that has placed them in perilous times laced with abject poverty.

“Information made available to us revealed that the son of one of the presidential candidates in active collaboration with others visited South Africa to hatch this plan,” he said.

He disclosed that LP as a party with the sole aim of turning the country into a place where poverty, unemployment, ‘japa’ would be seen as a taboo, was being threatened by an opposition that hates the Nigerian youths with passion.

“Big Titan or whatever they may call it will distract the youths from taking what belongs to them now. The Big Brother Naija ended not long ago, why the ‘Titans’ now that we are facing a major election that will determine the future of the Nigerian youths?

“Any reality show now is laced with a lot of unforeseen dangers for the youths because their attention will be divided. As a party, we are not against reality shows because it helps the Nigerian youths to break the poverty line but for now, for the common good of all it should be shifted to another convenient date after the general elections must have been concluded.

“Those putting together a reality show at this time when we are counting days to the general elections are enemies of the Nigerian youths and by extension all well-meaning Nigerians. The question Nigerians should be asking the organisers is whether they’re truly friends of the political entity known as Nigeria or enemies of progress.

“Like I said earlier, this reality show was concocted and designed by a major opposition political party and at the right time we will unmask them to the Nigerian youths,” he said.

Gabriel Emameh in Abuja