The All Progressives Congress (APC) has accused the
Jonathan Administration of planing to postpone next
month’s general elections.
This was made known by Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the
National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives
Congress (APC) in a press conference.
Below is a full text of the press conference
Text of a press conference addressed by the National
Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC),
Alhaji Lai Mohammed, on Sunday, Jan. 11th 2015 at the
APC Data Centre, Ikeja, Lagos on Jan. 11th 2015
Good afternoon gentlemen!
As you are very much aware by now, the Department of
State Services, DSS, on Jan. 7th 2015 released the so-
called findings from its investigation following the Gestapo-
like raids of our Data Centre here at Number 10, Ajibola
Street, Ikeja, on Nov. 22nd 2014.
The summary of the ‘findings’ is that our party, the All
Progressives Congress (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”.
Our immediate response, which was issued on the same
day and which got a big play, was to dismiss the ‘findings’
as hogwash, a great disservice to Nigeria and an
embarrassment to all intelligence-gathering organizations
around the world. Our stand on the ‘findings’ has not
changed.
However, having taken our time to study the ‘findings’, we
believe it is necessary for us to respond to the allegations
in a more detailed manner that will show that we were even
charitable to have described the report as hogwash. That
DSS report is bunkum, garbage, and is not worth the paper
on which it is written. We will demonstrate that to you
shortly
But first, let us address the motive of the DSS for this report
and the timing of its release.
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 elections.
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.
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 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.
THE ‘FINDINGS’
We make bold to say that those ‘findings’ cannot stand a
serious scrutiny by independent investigators.because the
DSS worked backwards, from answer to question, in an
effort to reach a pre-determined conclusion
HACKING OF INEC’s DATABASE
The allegation that the APC planned to hack into INEC’s
voters’ registration Data Base is false. 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.
We are not aware that INEC has made a complaint of
anyone or group trying to hack into its system. The DSS
‘findings’ are baseless as INEC’S database is a reflection of
the registered members with the Permanent Voter’s 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 for the following reasons:
* 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.
* The DSS has claimed that hacking tutorials were
discovered on an external hard drive. This is a lie! All the
USB ports on the pc systems in the office were disabled to
prevent virus intrusion. Therefore, the use of external hard
drives is not allowed at the APC Data Centre. If this is so,
how is it possible for an external hard drive containing
these so-called hacking materials to be found on the
premises of the APC Data Office?
Please note that the work stations at our various data
registration centres in the country are manned by
unemployed youths with just basic computer knowledge.
The question to ask is: Would the party have employed
these people if the intent were to hack into INEC’s Data
Base or employed gurus in the IT world?
It is clear that the DSS purchased a hard drive and
downloaded the information themselves from the Internet.
After all, the DSS, by virtue of its duties, should be the
hacking experts, hence hacking tutorials will be part of their
staff induction training.
TIMING OF THE DSS RAIDS
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?
It is no coincidence that the DSS raided the APC Data
Centre on Nov. 22nd 2014, exactly one week before the
start of the PVC distribution exercise on Nov. 28th 2014.
The reason the DSS came to vandalize our Data Centre is
because the Service is working hand-in-hand with the PDP.
They carried out the raids to know our party’s strength in
terms of membership. Please note that after the raids,
many of our registered members could not find their names
on the list when they went to collect their PVCs. This is not
a mere coincidence.
ALLEGED MULTIPLE REGISTRATION OF MEMBERS
After the first visit of the DSS, it was clear to all Nigerians
that the Service’s claim that we were cloning PVCs could
not be sustained. That explains why they could not display
a single cloned PVC
During the second raid carried out by the DSS on the same
APC Data Centre, the security personnel carted away bags
with unused membership registration forms. These are the
forms to which they have fraudulently attached pictures of
babies & military personnel in order to implicate the APC.
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
organization to attest to its ‘findings’? Can you be an
accuser and a judge at the same time?
ALLEGED REGISTRATION OF ARMED FORCES/
PARAMILITARY PERSONNEL
This is a no-brainer! The question to ask the DSS is: Will
any member of the armed forces and paramilitary
organizations 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.
ALLEGED REGISTRATION OF BABIES
To the best of our knowledge, a baby cannot vote? So, why
would any organization 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.
ALLEGED CONFESSIONS BY WORKERS ARRESTED FROM
THE DATA CENTRE
Please recall that in a statement we issued of Dec. 5th
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.
Gentlemen, we now present to you some of those who were
arrested and tortured by the DSS, so they can narrate to you
their ordeal in the hands of the DSS – A national institution
being maintained by taxpayers’ funds but which has now
become the enforcement arm of the PDP to be used by the
ruling party to terrorize innocent citizens.
The DSS said it had charged these workers to court. This is
a lie. We were the ones who charged the DSS to court, and
the court ordered the security agency to release the
arrested workers. Be that as it may, we are expecting them
to join us in court, and let the court decide on the crap they
called findings. We are confident that the ‘confessions’
extracted from these people, after they were subjected to
incredible acts of torture, cannot even stand in any court of
law.
I thank you!
Alhaji Lai Mohammed
National Publicity Secretary CLICK HERE TO READ FULL AND TOUCHING NIGERIAN CELEBRITIES BIOGRAPHY AND SCANDALS
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