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Ondo Election: PDP cautions INEC on use of Z-pad for Ondo guber poll

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2 years ago

July 4, 2022

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The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has cautioned the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) not to compromise the credibility of the coming October 10, 2020 Ondo Governorship election “with the contemplation of using the unreliable Zpad technology in voter accreditation process.”

In a statement on Thursday by the PDP National Campaign Council for Ondo Governorship Election and signed by Kola Ologbondiyan, Chairman Publicity Sub-Committee, the party said:

“Our campaign recalls that the Zpad technology had failed during a test-run deployment for voter accreditation in Nasarawa bye-election; a situation that informed its rejection by INEC for voter accreditation in the September 19 Edo State governorship election, where it was only used to assist in direct uploading of results to INEC’s virtual portal.

“We therefore urge INEC to limit the Zpad technology to the purpose for which it has helped the commission to attain integrity as witnessed in the Edo governorship election.

“Our campaign also charges INEC to discountenance the blackmail by the All Progressives Congress (APC) against the replacement of the over 5000 card readers that were burnt by APC agents to frustrate the conduct of a credible governorship election in Ondo State.

“We also call on INEC to note that the APC is bent on its plots to frustrate the commission’s efforts following clear indications that there is no way its candidate, the failed Governor Rotimi Akeredolu, can win in a free, fair and credible election.

“The PDP campaign, standing with the people of Ondo State, demands that the Chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, personally oversights the processes of recruitment of state polling officers.

The party said that its demand was predicated on information available to it that “INEC officials detailed to handle the process are about being compromised by the APC to engage their members as INEC adhoc staff with a view to using them to rig the election.”

The PDP and its candidate Godwin Obaseki just won the governorship election in Edo State held on September 19.

The party hopes to replicate that with its governorship candidate, Eyitayo Jegede, in the Ondo State election scheduled to hold on October 10.