Security agents in the country are probing the mass movement of Nigerians of Northern origin to parts of the South East and South South ahead of the 2015 elections.
A source in the Security apparatus said there was report that the All Progressives Congress were behind such moves in order to secure strategic advantage at the Presidential polls in 2015.
The source explained, “There were allegations that the All Progressives Congress wants to move thousands of eligible voters from the North-West and North-Eastern part of the country to the South-East and South-South in the next few weeks where they could register as eligible voters ahead of the Presidential election in February next year.
“Many of the 486 people who were arrested and detained had confessed to having been mobilised by political party chiefs to relocate to the South and integrate into the civil populace ahead of the 2015 polls.
“The plan, according to some of those interviewed, is to increase the voting strength of the opposition political party and secure the mandatory 25 per cent of votes cast in those states and thereby enhance its chances of winning the Presidential election.
“When one considers the fact that the constitution requires that for a person to be declared winner in a Presidential election, he must score at least one quarter of votes cast in 24 states in addition to scoring the highest number of votes cast nationwide, it becomes clear that a party which does not score this mandatory percentage in the 11 states of the South-East and South-South will be in a very precarious situation.”
Several thousand people are said to have probably already been moved in past months without detection by security agencies.
“Most of the arrested persons said they had never travelled out of the North and were told that arrangements had been made for their accommodation and feeding for the next six months,” he said.
A source also told Punch that politicians had made funds transfers to some of the arrested Northerners under investigation.
“Several funds transfer by politicians into accounts of those arrested are currently being investigated while security agents have been put on alert to mount surveillance on those who had moved into the South much earlier.
“The nation’s law does not recognise migrant voters. Everyone is expected to vote in his or her normal place of residence. This development is worrisome as it portrays the desperation of our politicians.”
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