According to a Publication By The Nigerian Tribune, The All Progressives Congress (APC), on
Sunday, in Lagos, alleged that the
invasion of its Data Centre by the
Department of State Security (DSS)
was a plot by the Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP) to postpone next month's
general election.
National Publicity Secretary of the
party, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said this
while addressing a press conference at
the party's Data Centre, Ikeja,
maintaining that the APC was not
planning to clone any permanent voter
card (PVC) as alleged by the DSS and,
therefore, the summary report released
by the organisation on the invasion of
the data centre was a hogwash.
This is just as arrested staff of the
party's Data Centre, including the
System Administrator, Esther Enemewe,
Olaposi Fayemi (Supervisor), Ebun and
Chinedu Atuche recalled their ordeals
in the gulag of DSS in Lagos and
Abuja, where they said they were
chained, blindfolded, tortured and
dehumanised as statements were
obtained from them.
The DSS had, following a raid it carried
on the data centre on November 22
2014, released a summary of its
findings, alleged that the APC had an
''articulated plan to inflate the party's
membership data, as well as hack into
INEC's voter registration database
through the creation of party
membership forms and cards to match
INEC's voters register across the
country.''
Mohammed, while further describing
the summary report released by the
DSS as an embarrassment to all
intelligence-gathering organisations
around the world, said it would like to
tell Nigerians that the DSS finding was
part of the ongoing efforts by the
Goodluck Jonathan-led administration
to postpone next month's general
election.
According to him, the DSS, which, it
said, was working in collaboration with
the PDP, had embarked on the venture
having seen the handwriting on the
wall vis-a-vis the growing rejection of
the PDP by Nigerians.
"We will like to tell all Nigerians that
the crap called 'findings' is part of the
ongoing efforts by the Jonathan
administration to postpone next
month's general election. Having seen
the handwriting on the wall vis-a-vis
the growing rejection of the PDP by
Nigerians, the Jonathan
administration has gone into a panic
mode, while embarking on a plan to
postpone the elections.
"Apparently, the thinking at the DSS,
which is working in cahoots with the
PDP, is that its report that the APC
plans to hack into the voters'
registration data base of the
Independent National Electoral
Commission (INEC) will raise doubts
about the integrity of the voter's
register to be used for the forthcoming
polls, and subsequently force a
postponement of the elections since
the existing register cannot be used
for the polls," he said.
The APC spokesperson, while recalling
that its earlier response to the DSS
report the same day it was released,
maintained that it still had reasons to
dismiss the report, which it described
as a great disservice to Nigeria, a
bunkum, garbage that was not worth
the paper on which it was written.
"Unfortunately for DSS and the PDP,
this thinking was based on a wrong
premise, as we will show shortly, and it
has backfired.
"Before you say our claim is
outlandish, remember that some
prominent Nigerians have publicly
called for the postponement of the
election - which can only benefit the
Jonathan-led administration and delay
its impending waterloo at the polls.
Place the calls side by side with the
apparently doctored outcome of the
DSS investigations and the timing of
the report's release, and you will
understand where they are coming
from."
Alhaji Mohammed insisted that the
findings by the DSS could not stand
the test of time, as well as serious
scrutiny by independent investigators
because the DSS worked backwards,
from answer to question, in an effort
to reach a pre-determined conclusion.
According to him, the allegation that
the party planned to hack into the
INEC's data base was false and also
"the fact that the DSS made the
allegation at all shows that the agency
does not understand the concept of
hacking, which is pathetic for a
primary intelligence agency of its
stature."
He contended that DSS 'findings' were
baseless as INEC'S database was a
reflection of the registered members
with the permanent voter cards
(PVCs).
"Please note that at the time of the
DSS' raids, the PVCs had already been
printed. Therefore, of what value would
it be to hack into the system and input
more names?"
"Simply put, it is not possible for the
APC to hack into the INEC data base
because "INEC’s database is not
online, how then is it possible for
anyone to hack into it? To prevent
virus intrusion, there is no Internet
service at the APC data centre that
was raided. Therefore, it is not
possible to hack into INEC’s
database," he said.
The party spokesperson, while throwing
more posers, said, "As we have said,
the overall motive of the raid of our
offices and the so-called findings is to
give the impression that the INEC
voter's register has been corrupted,
hence cannot be used for next month's
elections. Now, a more specific
question: Why did the DSS break into
the APC Data Centre at the time it
did?"
"Or what on earth was the purpose of
the DSS carting away blank APC
membership registration forms? Why
did it take the DSS almost 50 days to
reveal this information? If it were true,
won’t they have released the
information to the general public
immediately? Has the DSS hired any
renowned IT organisation to attest to
its 'findings'? Can you be an accuser
and a judge at the same time?"
Faulting claims by the DSS that the
APC had perfected plans to allegedly
register Armed Forces and paramilitary
personnel, Mohammed said, "This is a
no-brainer! The question to ask the
DSS is: Will any member of the Armed
Forces and paramilitary organisations
be so daft as to join a political party
using a passport photograph of
himself or herself in uniform? The DSS
must think Nigerians are fools."
On the alleged registration of babies,
he said "to the best of our knowledge,
a baby cannot vote? So, why would
any organisation register a baby as a
member? Our application edits date of
birth, hence will not allow the
registration of under-aged persons.
"The DSS should tell the world where it
got the pictures of babies that it
affixed to the blank forms that were
carted away from our Data Centre. We
did not and could not have registered
babies as members. This allegation is
nitwitted, to say the least."
Picking holes in the alleged
confessions by workers arrested from
the Data Centre, the APC
spokesperson said, "Please recall that
in a statement we issued of December
5 2014, we accused the DSS of
resorting to the use of torture to
obtain forced confessions from the
workers who were arrested during the
first raid on our party's Data Centre."
"In that statement, we called the
action of the DSS a contravention of
the UN Convention against Torture to
which Nigeria is a signatory and a
violation of the citizens' fundamental
human rights.
"We also said the DSS shackled the
hands and legs of those arrested and
blindfolded them while they were being
taken to Abuja; The arrested persons
remained in chains even at the dark
detention cell where they were made to
sleep on the bare floor for the 10 days
they were detained illegally.
"The workers had guns pointed at their
heads by DSS personnel who
threatened to shoot them- A pregnant
woman among those who were
arrested was denied access to her
drugs even when she started bleeding
due to the torture to which she was
subjected by the DSS," Mohammed
narrated.
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