The General Assembly of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council Worldwide, yesterday alleged that the huge number of uncollected Permanent Voters Cards, PVCs, in the South-East and other parts of the country where Igbo people reside was deliberately orchestrated as part of plans and efforts of some mischief makers in collaboration with corrupt Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, officials to disenfranchise Ndigbo from voting their candidates in the forthcoming general elections.
In a statement issued in Abakaliki, the group called on prominent Ndigbo to mobilize in ensuring the massive collection of PVCs belonging to Ndigbo across the country.
According to them: “OYC General Assembly frowns at the numerous uncollected PVCs across the Southeast and other parts of the country where Igbos reside; these uncollected PVCs are as the result of IPOB’s call for election boycott and some mischief markers who are collaborating with corrupt INEC officials to deny numerous Igbo their civic right to vote the candidates of their choice in the 2019 general elections”.
The statement read further: “We call on our southeast governors, Christian Association of Nigeria, Muslim community, religious leaders, Southeast town unions presidents, NANS especially Zone B, traditional rulers, market unions, Biafra agitators who registered, to take it as a point of duty to ensure that all uncollected PVCs in the Southeast are collected without leaving any behind. Ohanaeze youths are watching keenly. We wish to use this medium to tell Ndigbo residing across the 36 states who registered to get their PVCs.”
“The leadership of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council Worldwide met her 36 States Chairmen, with 39 affiliated groups, With Forum of Biafra Agitators which Constitutes in her 7th General Assembly of Ohanaeze Youths met in Abakiliki Chaired by the President General Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro and resolved as follows;
“The OYC General Assembly Observed that Prior to 2015 Elections that APC controlled states in Southwest deliberately disenfranchised igbos by denying them their Civic rights and access to collect their PVCs, even after the when igbos won few Federal House of Rep seats in Lagos, Governor Ambode began massive demolition of Markets with Igbos losing millions of goods, which is aimed at destroying the strongholds of Igbo Voters in Lagos state.
“OYC General Assembly had mandated our 31 States Chairmen which excludes the 5 Core Southeast States to mobilize igbos alongside with Prominent Igbo groups outside southeast to ensure that between 16th -21st January 2019,that every Igbo man or woman who registered in the last Voters registration that ended August 31st 2018 gets his/her PVCs before the deadline of January 21st 2019.
“Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council Worldwide ask INEC to extend the deadline for the collection of PVCs till ending of January 2019 to enable those Who travelled and registered in their hometowns to go and get it without being intimidated or being under duress, as the Rush to get it within these few days might lead to disenfranchisement of many Igbo potential Voters, and increase the suspension that some corrupt INEC officials will take the advantage to engage in Vote buying to desperate Politicians.”