Chuks Okocha and Sunday Aborisade in Abuja
Peter Obi Media Office (POMR) has raised the alarm over what it described as an alleged attempt by some political actors to induce Nigerians to surrender their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) ahead of the 2027 general election.
Makinde-Daura Presidential Campaign Organisation (MDPCO) also called on Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to address allegations in the public domain of plans by some of its officials to furtively hand over millions of unclaimed PVCs to agents of All Progressives Congress (APC) ahead of the 2027 general election.
The Peter Obi media office, in a statement by its spokesman, Idris Zekeri Jnr., urged Nigerians to reject any offer of money or other inducements in exchange for their PVCs or votes.
The warning came exactly 100 days before the January 16, 2027 presidential and National Assembly elections scheduled by INEC.
POMR alleged that the ruling party was exploiting widespread economic hardship by offering money to Nigerians in exchange for their PVCs.
It also alleged that reports from some states indicated that some governors were collecting PVCs from citizens, including civil servants, allegedly in connection with the payment of their legitimate salaries and allowances.
For its part, Makinde-Daura Presidential Campaign demanded that INEC should address allegations that its compromised officials were opening the way for APC to use unclaimed PVCs to infiltrate polling centres in order to use the cards to sway the outcome of the elections to APC’s advantage in some mapped out locations.
In a statement, Director of Strategic Communications of the campaign, Richard Ihediwa, said, ‘’This allegation puts a huge burden on the management of INEC as it portends a serious breach on the integrity of the coming election and threatens the very core of democracy in Nigeria.
‘’Our campaign insists that an unclaimed PVC must neither be a disposable property nor a political asset to the enemies of credible elections. It must not be at the mercy of electoral manipulation but a strictly controlled electoral instrument, whose compromise, in any way, opens the door to electoral fraud.’’