The Gombe State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has raised a fiery alarm, accusing Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya’s administration of harvesting sensitive personal data—including voters’ cards, bank account numbers, and thumbprints—from unsuspecting residents under the guise of state empowerment programs.
In a strongly worded statement issued by the party’s publicity secretary, Abdulkadir Ahmad Dukku, the opposition platform condemned the practice as a backdoor tactic to profile citizens and compromise civic privacy. The PDP argued that genuine government palliatives or support programs funded by public resources should be distributed transparently and freely, without forcing citizens to surrender core identification documents or financial data as a prerequisite.
Highlighting constitutional safeguards under Section 37 of the 1999 Constitution, which guarantees the right to personal privacy, the party cautioned the public against trading private information for temporary aid.
“The attention of the PDP has been drawn to information going round that the APC Government in the State under Governor Muhammad Inuwa Yahaya is collecting personal details such as account numbers, voters’ cards, and thumbprints from unsuspecting individuals in the name of disbursing empowerment… We urge residents to be cautious,” the statement read.
The opposition further warned voters to protect their Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) jealously, emphasizing that the documents remain critical instruments for the upcoming electoral cycle. The state government has yet to issue an official response to the allegations as political tension begins to build across the region.
