The governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Plateau State, Senator Gyang Pwajok has blamed President Goodluck Jonathan’s defeat during the March 28 president election on what he described as politics of Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) distribution by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Pwajok, who spoke with journalists in Jos, the state capital, believed that the outcome of the poll in which the APC candidate, Gen Mohammadu Buhari defeated President Goodluck Jonathan would have been different if INEC had ensured even distribution of PVCs across the states according to the number of registered voters.
Pwajok said: “In my ward like many other wards across the country, we had an experience where 818 people with zero registration progressed to re-register, and then when the PVC were supposed to be given to them, only eight out of the number were given. That means that over 800 people were disenfranchised by INEC and yet the person has no way of getting the PVC himself except going through the electoral body. So, it means that there was politics of distribution of PVCs which affected the outcome of the elections.”
Despite the discomfort of having to stand in the heat, President Jonathan comported himself very well as the president, not a partisan, as we all watched on national television how three card readers failed to read his biometrics and accredit him for voting at his home town, Otueke, Bayelsa State. At a time television camera could project very clearly that his wife was already boiling with anger, the president said he was prepared to wait for as long as it would take for it to work before he was eventually accredited manually. Calm in disposition and measured in his utterances, Jonathan refused to be goaded by the reporters who were asking him leading questions about the use of card reader, knowing where he stood on the issue.
Pwajok therefore called on the INEC to ensure that no voter is disenfranchised during the remaining elections by allowing the use of TVC for those who don’t have PVC for no fault of theirs.
The Governorship candidate also expressed confidence that the party will emerge victorious during the forthcoming governorship poll in the state, pointing out that the politics normally played at the national level is usually not the same with what obtains at the state level.
He said despite the loss of the party’s presidential candidate during the last election, the party has a bright future in the state in the governorship poll. (Elombah).