According to him, INEC read with great consternation in some national newspapers the PDP’s allegations that the commission is denying some applicants their PVCs as well as cloning some PVCs.

“It is pertinent to clarify and correct the PDP’s frivolous accusation that some INEC officials are colluding with members of the ruling party in the state to deny access to some groups of people to withdraw their PVCs.

“Mention was also made of Mr. Muyiwa Yusuf, Head of the INEC VR/ICT Department in the state, who allegedly colluded with the APC to clone the faces of voters through privileged access to PVCs.

“It has become necessary to comment on the recent report which, far from being true, was grossly misrepresenting and misleading in both content and context.

“It is obvious that this story orchestrated by the PDP was fabricated to distort the reputation of the INEC in the state and dirty the name of the officer in question,” Agbaje said.

Agbaje said that eligible registrants were at no time denied their rights to collect the PVCs in the state’s 20 local government areas.

“INEC has no political affiliation or inclination for any party in the state. PVC collection is on a first-come, first-served basis.” he said.

The commissioner added that INEC, as the Electoral Management Agency (OGE) that has the constitutional responsibility to conduct free and fair elections, had no reason to clone PVC, knowing that cloned cards would not be authenticated on election day.

He said INEC’s new technology, the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) would never authenticate any cloned PVC on Election Day.

added: “The exercise the commission is running right now is PVC scanning to collect the phone numbers of eligible registrants who have yet to pick up their cards in order to contact them via bulk SMS.

“The commission strongly believes in fairness, transparency, integrity and fairness in the conduct of its business.

“We will continue to uphold these fundamental principles in the performance of our constitutional duties and responsibilities as an impartial arbitrator for all interested parties.”

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the PDP on Monday at a press conference, alleged manipulation, oppression and intimidation of voters by the APC in the state before the polls.

The PDP said that some INEC staff were helping and colluding with the APC in manipulating the distribution of PVC in the state.