One of Nigeria’s foremost elder statesmen, Rev Dr Sokari Soberekon, has described the Permanent Voter’s Card (PVC) as an instrument of bloodless coup d’etat against the administration of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan.
Rev Dr Sokari, who is the foremost Niger Delta oil derivation agitator and establisher, said this in a chat with newsmen in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, at the weekend.
Bemoaning the poor quality of what he referred to as “the so-called PVCs,” Rev Sokari disclosed that the cards have been discovered to be detachable, arguing that if the PVCs can be separated, “then they are not as permanent as claimed by the Independent National Electoral Commission
(INEC).”
On how he discovered that the PVCs are detachable, Rev Sokari said that a woman (name withheld) who came to him for prayers from Bayelsa State recently, told him that her PVC was separated when he asked whether she had obtained hers.
He said when he doubted her; the woman brought it out from her handbag and showed him, adding that he was so shocked that he took pictures of the detached PVC.
Rev Sokari wondered why the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) did not give the job of printing the PVC to the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company which he said would have produced more quality cards.
He expressed disappointment that 1NEC made the card to be detachable while at the same time making Nigerians believe it is permanent, alleging that the aim could be for perpetration of election malpractice as part of a rumoured conspired plot with the opposition to remove President Jonathan from office.
Sokari further queried INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega’s sincerity in almost forcing the country to hold elections when all the voters have not got their PVCs, likening Jega’s action to that of referee starting a football match when all the players of the two teams are not yet complete and have not taken their positions on the pitch. He, however, expressed joy that God intervened and the elections were postponed.
Rev Sokari further regretted that many eligible voters have not got their PVCs three weeks after the elections have been postponed, wondering why INEC did not produce the cards in bulk so that every voter will get it at the same time.
He further wondered how the separated PVCs could be detected by “the so-called card readers which INEC said it is going to use during the elections,” adding that there could be other Nigerians whose PVCs have also detached or separated.
Sokari called on Nigerians to vote for President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan in the forthcoming presidential election, pointing out that the president has done so well in the area of education where he (Jonathan) has built many Federal universities, primary schools and repaired and/or furnished many unity and government colleges across the country.
Lie also reiterated that the president has performed excellently in the aviation, agriculture, importation, oil and gas and social infrastructure sector as well as youth empowerment, adding that apart from Gen. Yakubu Gowon, who worked with Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Jonathan is the best president Nigeria has ever produced.
He specifically mentioned the revival of the nation’s railway system as one of the landmarks of the Jonathan administration, recalling that his 25-yr old son recently saw a train moving in Port Harcourt and shouted that he had never seen it before except in movies.
According to Sokari, two former heads of state who were of the engineering corps in the Nigerian army ruled this country and yet could neither revamp the railway system nor build a second Niger bridge, “yet Jonathan, who came from the classroom where he was a lecturer, to lead the nation, was able to reactivate the long dead and forgotten railways and also commence the construction of the second Niger Bridge,” stressing that if Jonathan decides to join the APC today, he will still vote for him because of his excellent performance.
He further commended the president for convening the national conference that brought many eminent Nigerians together to brainstorm on the way forward for the country, pointing out that if not for such a golden opportunity given to those noble Nigerians by Jonathan, those he referred to as “political agboros (area boys) in the national assembly who can jump the fence and hit people’s heads with maces” would not have allowed them (those noble Nigerians) to gather to discuss the way forward for the country.
He, however, called on the president to establish a special ‘flying and floating’ medical service scheme that would be dispensed from one riverine community to another in the Niger Delta with the aid of flat-bottom boats with heliports and helicopters, lamenting that many riverine people are dying due ‘to absence of medical care for them.
Hailing former president, Alhâji Shehu Shagari, on the latter’s recent 90th birthday celebration, Rev Sokari said the 2nd republic president would still live longer to celebrate more birthdays, disclosing that God had granted Shagari long life because he (Shagari) granted his (Rev Sokari’s) request for oil derivation approval.
He called on the federal government to remove the taxation on the oil derivation fund, which he said was not part of the clause of approval by Alhaji Shagari. ###
