Gboyega Nasir Isiaka
The
Peoples Democratic Party’s governorship candidate in Ogun State,
Gboyega Isiaka, has raised the alarm over an alleged plot by the ruling
All Progressives Congress to rig the governorship and state House of
Assembly elections holding on Saturday.
This allegation was contained in a
statement in Abeokuta by his campaign organisation’s spokesperson,
Ifekayode Akinbode, who alleged that the state governor, Ibikunle
Amosun, had bought unclaimed Permanent Voter Cards brought to the state.
He also claimed that the APC had
perfected a plan to use its loyalists as fake corps members in some
polling units where the bought PVCs would be used on the election day.
But in a swift reaction, the Deputy
Director-General of Senator Ibikunle Amosun Campaign Organisation, Chief
Bisi Adegbuyi, described the allegations as spurious and a last-minute
attempt by a drowning party to hold on to the last straw.
Akinbode said, “While the results of
last Saturday’s election may have slightly favoured the APC, we now have
cause to doubt the validity of the total results if what we now know is
anything to go by.
“It has come to our notice that the
Governor of Ogun State, Ibikunle Amosun, has purchased many of the
uncollected PVCs for underhand use of the APC.
“While Ogun INEC said about 400,000 cards remain uncollected, many of these cards are now in the possession of Amosun.
“The grand plot is to give the purchased
PVCs to members of their party and then push them to polling units
where the impostor corps members are posted. This way, the cards will
not be verified since everyone knows the plot. At such locations, huge
votes will be returned for the APC to the detriment of the PDP and the
unsuspecting voters.
“Secondly, we also have it on good
authority that the Amosun administration plans to disenfranchise a lot
of civil servants in the state due to their perceived inclination to
vote against the regime. The plan is to block access to PVCs by the
workers, especially in areas where they are located. This is very
ludicrous and shameful. It is a crass display of desperation by Amosun
and his party.”
Akinbode therefore cautioned the
Independent National Electoral Commission against colluding with the
Amosun-led administration in the alleged attempt to undermine the
integrity of the poll, warning that any attempt to truncate the popular
wish of the people would be met with stiff resistance.
But Adegbuyi said the APC was not known to have predisposition to subvert people’s will.
He explained that Amosun had performed
creditably well and would secure re-election just like the
President-elect, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) emerged victorious
in the presidential election.
He said, “It is incumbent on whoever is
making such false, spurious, unsubstantiated allegation to come up with
concrete proof. The truth of the matter is that they are scared to their
pants. The shock that they got, the referendum on their government at
the centre, the good people of Nigeria have spoken and they know that we
are going to replicate that in Ogun State.
“Therefore, it is not surprising and it
should be expected that a drowning man would hold on to any straw. Let
them come and face us at the polls and we are going to trounce them.
This is because cogent, credible, convincing evidence of performance are
there for everybody to see. It is not just making spurious allegations.
“If you look into our history, we are
not known to have predisposition to subversion of the people’s will. PDP
is notorious for doing that and therefore, they cannot tar us with
their brush. People know the people who are not popular, who have always
been winning elections because they have been fixing elections.
“We are popular, we have worked very
hard and therefore we rely on people’s votes, mandate and subscription
to what we are doing. They are the aggressors; we have a name and
integrity to protect. We have a government that must do what our people
want; we’ll not play their game with them. They are down, they will be
out and therefore they are desperate.”
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