Plateau AC alleges plans to postpone LG polls - We’re not aware of such plans - PDP

Isaac Shobayo, Jos - 05.03.2008

THE Action Congress (AC) in Plateau State has alleged that the state Independent Electoral Commission (PLASEIC), in conjunction with the state government, was planning to postpone the local government election slated March 15.

This is even as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state said that it had not received any notification on such an arragement from the commission. According to a press statement issued by theAC and signed by the chairman its Elders Forum, Alhaji Yakubu Husaini , and the state chairman of the party, Chief Maichibi Vwarji respectively, the government had also started making moves to manipulate the election to favour the PDP.

The party alleged that the government was planning to hinge its plot to shift the election on holy pilgrimage to Jerusalem, adding that the Christian faithful participating in the exercise in the state were only 1,400.

“Plateau State pilgrims are just 1,400, a very minute percentage of the voters population. Besides, before the elections on March 15, about 1,100 of the pilgrims would have returned. So, it is clear that the religious exercise would not disenfranchise as claimed,” the AC said.

It, therefore, called on the PLASIEC not succumb to any pressure from any quarter and go ahead with the election as scheduled. Reacting to the allegation, the chairman of the PDP in the state, Professor Dakum Shown, said the state electoral commission had not notified the party on such an arrangement, adding that it was the desire of his party to see the election conducted as scheduled.

Professor Shown said the election had dragged on for long, adding that any attempt to shift it again would cause a setback for the candidates in the election.