The All Progressives Congress (APC) has raised the alarm over alleged plots by the Jonathan’s administration and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to render card readers ineffective on Election Day, through use of 75,000 units of card jamming machines that will be brought into the country next week at the cost of $15 million.

According to the party, this is with a view to justifying their fears about the use of the card readers and ultimately to scuttle the polls.

The party raised this concern on Monday, in a statement made available to the Nigerian Tribune by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.

“We can authoritatively inform Nigerians that the morbid fear of card readers by the Jonathan-led administration and the PDP has now been translated into concrete action: They have hired an Israeli, Gyora Berger, to do the dirty job of jamming the card readers,” the party alleged.

“To those who might accuse us of crying wolf, they should realise that every alarm we have raised in the past has been true, including that the Jonathan administration was pushing for the postponement of the elections and that they are mortally afraid of the use of permanent voter cards (PVCs) and card readers,” APC said.

According to the APC, the Israeli was hired specifically to develop three prototype card reader jammers, which the party said he had already done.

The party said the Israeli had now developed three of such jammers, which would also disable all telephones, iPads, among others, within the stated radius, of those carrying them on their persons apart from disabling the card readers.

“The plan is to deploy the card jammers to the areas deemed to be the strong holds of the APC, such as the North-West, North-East, North-Central and the South- West.

“It is the planned procurement of the jammers that have given the confidence to the administration and party officials to continuously boast that Buhari will never rule Nigeria, and also the reason why a chieftain of the PDP boasted last week that the card readers won’t work, thus advising INEC to make alternative arrangements,” the APC said.

“We have consistently said power resides in the people, irrespective of what the government of the day might think. When the people are determined to vote out any government, no amount of money, evil plots and shenanigans can save that government, as the Jonathan Administration will find out in two weeks,” APC boasted.

Meanwhile, the Director of Media and Publicity of the Peoples Democratic Party Presidential Campaign Organisation (PDPPCO), Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, on Monday, berated the APC for coming up with a different lie every day of the week, ahead of the general election.

In a statement made available to newsmen, in Abuja, on Monday, Fani-Kayode dismissed as false, the allegation by the APC that, the Federal Government and PDP were planning to render the card readers ineffective on Election Day.

While dismissing the allegation as wild and baseless, he pointed out that the Federal Government and PDP did not have any plan to sabotage the card readers and did not need to indulge in such shady and sinister practices. 

According to him, “we view this wild and baseless allegation with amusement. Frankly, the APC deserves to be pitied. So desperate are they for power that their latest strategy is to come up with a different lie for every day of the week.”

The statement reads, “They have lost control of their senses; their imagination has gone wild and they see things that are simply not there.

 “This latest allegation is absurd; it is not rooted in truth; it is irrational and illogical. It is clear that the opposition are already preparing the grounds and making excuses for their own defeat.

“They are running scared and are already preparing the minds of their supporters for their imminent failure at the polls.

“Instead of saying something tangible and attempting to ginger up and encourage their supporters, all they indulge in is giving them a daily dose of sub-standard fairy tales and dirty lies.

They should stop all these nonsense and desist from making these wild and baseless allegations.

“President Goodluck Jonathan and the PDP do not have any plans to sabotage the card readers and neither do we need to indulge in such shady, sinister and tardy practices.

“We look forward to the elections which will commence in two weeks time and we have no doubt that the overwhelming number of the Nigerian people will vote for our candidates and support our party.”