The Peoples Democratic Party has accused the Presidency of planning to rig the September 21 governorship election in Edo State in favour of the All Progressives Congress.
According to the PDP, in a statement by its Edo State Chairman, Anthony Aziegbemi, the Presidency has released a sum of $2m to compromise officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission, security operatives, and to buy votes.
But the APC said there was no truth in the PDP’s claims, stating that the party might be hallucinating.
The PDP also alleged that the $2m was handed to the APC governorship candidate, Monday Okpebholo.
The PDP further accused the Presidency of instructing the National Security Adviser and the Department of State Services to disrupt elections in the party’s strongholds to manipulate the polls for APC’s victory.
The statement reads In part: “As part of the evil ploy, security chiefs have been ordered to make heavy deployments to the strongholds of the PDP, especially those of Edo State Governor, Mr Godwin Obaseki, and our party’s candidate, Dr Asue Ighodalo, with the plan to destabilise the voting process in those areas.
“Some of the polling unit, registration area, and ward electoral officials have been discovered to be card-carrying members of the APC. Their task, we have learned, is to delay the result of their respective units with the aim of inciting violence and creating an unfavourable atmosphere during the election to favour the APC candidate during the compilation of results.”
However, the PDP said it would win the governorship election in a peaceful and credible contest, stating that its candidate, Asue Ighodalo, was poised for victory and would secure at least 70 per cent of the votes on election day.
The party called on President Bola Tinubu to live up to his responsibility as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and allow the will of the people to prevail by ensuring a free, fair, and credible election in Edo State.
“The President must realise that keeping Edo State and Nigeria safe and peaceful is his primary responsibility, and must therefore not allow the fear that his party will lose the forthcoming governorship poll in the state to lead him to disrupt peace and security, and set Edo State and Nigeria ablaze,” the party stated.
The National Deputy Organising Secretary of the APC, Nze Chidi Duru, while speaking with Sunday PUNCH, stated that the PDP was the party known for rigging elections.
He said, “I am hoping that it is not coming from their bad behaviour in the past when the security apparatus in the then PDP-led government of (Goodluck) Jonathan were said to have used state funds to support political endeavours.
“We hope that is not what is colouring whatever source or so-called intelligence they received. If they claim to have one, it must be something they must prove, and they are more than welcome to bring it to the public domain.
“But outside of that, it calls for concern that they are bringing up their bad behaviour, for which the party was known in the past.” (Sunday PUNCH: Text, Excluding Headline)
