Politics
Nasarawa PDP Accuses Police Of Supporting APC
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Nasarawa State chapter has said the rulling All Progressives Congress, (APC) in the state is already afraid of the 2023 governorship election as it is looking for all avenues to frustrate the campaigns of other political parties.
This was disclosed on Friday by the campaign Director General, Labaran Maku, in a press briefing at the PDP office, Karu Local government area of the state.
“We heard rumours that the Governor of the state was planning to visit Toto LGA but it is shocking that this could happen. The incumbent administration is afraid of this election because they have not performed, so they want to use other tactics to postpone our election.
“But as a law-abiding party, after due consultations with other leaders, we have decided to reschedule our first campaign in Toto LGA to November 29, 2022.”
The former minister of information further accused the State Police Command and Governor Abdullahi Sule of conspiring to frustrate the party’s first campaign earlier slated for November 28, 2022 in Toto Local Government Area of the state.
The Campaign DG expressed disappointment that after the PDP had informed the Police of the party’s plan to commence its campaign on the said date, Governor Abdullahi Sule used his power of incumbency to prevail on the police to allow the All Progressives Congress hold its first campaign on the same day and in the same LGA.
He, however, said because the PDP is law-abiding and wants a peaceful outing, it had agreed to shift the first campaign to November 29, 2022 to pave way for the ruling APC to hold its campaign before the opposition party’s campaign would commence in the LGA.
“It is strange that some hours to the party’s campaign rally, the police commissioner told us that he is not aware that we are holding our rally in Toto LGA, therefore we do not have the permission.
“It was established that this party was the first to notify the police of our campaign schedule. Strangely, we have not been called to any meeting with the APC that there is any conflict, so it is clear to us that this is an attempt to scuttle the campaigns in Nasarawa state,” he added.
Reacting further, Francis Orogu, PDP state party Chairman disclosed that governor Sule had shown clearly that he does not have the capacity to govern the state, alleging that he had vowed to crush anyone standing between him and the governorship seat ahead of the 2023 elections, noting that PDP was not afraid of the APC and it’s machination.
“The APC by all indices has failed our people. The coming election is going to be a walkover for the PDP,” he said.
However, DSP Ramhan Nansel, Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Nasarawa State Command, refuted the allegation that the police had directed the PDP to stop plans for its campaign flag off rally in Toto LGA on November 28.
He said that there was a clash of dates and location with the APC and CP Mohammed-Baba only advised the PDP to shift its rally to the next day in order to avert clashes among supporters, and to adequately provide security to both parties for their campaign rallies.
“So, it is for the sake of providing adequate security for the two political parties that the police advised PDP to shift theirs to the next day. It is not as if they were outrightly stopped or prevented,” he said.
Prof. Amupitan gave the warning on Saturday, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, during the South-South Zonal Readiness Assessment and Interactive Staff Engagement organised ahead of the 2027 general elections.
He said insecurity remained a potential challenge to the electoral process but stressed that the Commission would not allow threats against its personnel to undermine its constitutional responsibilities.
“Insecurity may pose a challenge, but our collective constitutional resolve is far stronger. Let me again send a clear message from Port Harcourt: anyone who attempts to threaten, intimidate, or harm our ad-hoc staff, NYSC members, or permanent personnel will be brought to justice under the full weight of the law,” he said.
The INEC Chairman, who was accompanied by National Commissioners, directors and technical aides, disclosed that the South-South engagement was the fifth in a series of zonal assessments, following similar exercises in the South-West, North-West, South-East and North-East.
He explained that his physical presence across the geopolitical zones reflected the Commission’s field-first approach, emphasising that electoral integrity must be established through effective operations at the grassroots.
According to him, the assessment would cover operational preparedness across the 123 Local Government Areas in the six South-South states.
On election security, Prof. Amupitan said INEC had moved away from reactive security arrangements traditionally activated around election day to a proactive, intelligence-driven framework known as the “ICCES Tentacle”.
He explained that the framework was designed to extend inter-agency security coordination from national and state headquarters to local government areas and Registration Area Centres, including remote communities.
He identified three critical pillars of the framework as mapping and mitigating security threats, protecting electoral personnel and infrastructure, and guaranteeing safe access to polling units.
The INEC boss said the security arrangement would provide comprehensive protection for electoral personnel, technological infrastructure, including Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) devices and server infrastructure, as well as voters.
He added that the framework was intended to ensure that every polling unit, irrespective of its geographical location or history of security challenges, remained safe and accessible for the exercise of democratic rights.
Prof. Amupitan disclosed that the South-South security architecture comprised approximately 60 major operational formations, headquarters and state commands operating under the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES).
The network, he said, brings together military, naval, air, police and other security and intelligence agencies across the six states.
“Together, this integrated multi-agency network represents the operational backbone that guarantees intelligence-led protection across every riverine creek, coastal axis, and land-based polling unit in the Niger Delta,” he stated.
Providing an overview of the region’s electoral significance, the INEC Chairman said the South-South had the fourth-largest voting bloc in the country, with 15,823,550 registered voters, representing 15.30 per cent of the national register.
Rivers State alone, he said, accounts for 3,736,434 registered voters spread across the 23 local government areas.
Alhaji Abubakar made the demand following revelations that some INEC registration officers allegedly abused their access to the voter registration system to introduce irregular records into the database.
In a statement issued by his Director of Strategic Communications, Mr Phrank Shaibu, the former vice-president described the development as a serious breach of the Commission’s internal safeguards and raised concerns about the integrity of the electoral process.
He urged INEC to identify the officials implicated in the alleged misconduct and explain what disciplinary or legal measures had been taken against them.
Alhaji Abubakar also called for an independent forensic audit of the preliminary voters’ register to establish the scale of the alleged manipulation, identify affected records and determine how the questionable entries were introduced into the system.
He further insisted that INEC preserve all relevant voter records, image files, system access logs and electronic audit trails to prevent the destruction or alteration of evidence before an independent examination could be conducted.
The former vice-president also demanded that the Commission disclose the identities of companies contracted to produce sensitive election materials ahead of the 2027 polls, arguing that transparency was essential to building public confidence in the electoral process.
INEC’s Director of Information and Communication Technology, Dr Lawrence Bayode, had earlier disclosed during a television interview that some registration officers across the country allegedly used their official login credentials to introduce irregularities into the voters’ database.
Dr Bayode explained that the Commission’s Automated Biometric Identification System helped identify questionable records and establish how some irregularities entered the system.
He, however, clarified that not all suspicious photographs were AI-generated, as some resulted from poor registration procedures.
The development followed public concerns over suspected AI-generated photographs, alleged duplicate entries and other inconsistencies discovered in the preliminary voters’ register published online on October 26, 2026.
INEC has maintained that the published document is a preliminary register and that it is reviewing questionable records ahead of the certification of the final Register of Voters.
The controversy has intensified calls for greater transparency and accountability in the management of the voters’ register as preparations gather momentum for the 2027 general elections.
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