Emmanuel Adigwe
The Peoples Democratic Party has stated that its national campaign council for Edo governorship election has been intimated of plots by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its sacked national chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, to rig the upcoming election.
The party stated this in a statement on Friday by its national publicity secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan said the APC and Oshiomhole were trying to procure extra result sheets, which they intend to use to rig the election.
“Our campaign has also been made aware of how Adams Oshiomhole and certain corrupt APC leaders have been threatening and mounting pressure on the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Yakubu Mahmood and other officials of the commission, to secretly provide them with ballot papers and form EC8 election results sheet to facilitate their plans for ballot stuffing and writing of election results,” the PDP added.
The party also stated that the APC and its candidate had marked Edo North senatorial district, as where the extra ballot papers and result sheets would be pushed to APC thugs, including those to be brought in from neighboring Kogi State, to influence the election results for Ize-Iyamu.
It added: “Already, a base has been established in a neighboring town of Kogi State which will be used to serve for operations in their callous plots.
“Edo North has a borderline with Kogi, a state where unimaginable electoral violence, including burning a woman alive, was perpetrated by the APC in their desperation for electoral manipulation.
“The APC plot for the Edo election is reminiscent of last year’s governorship election in Kogi State where different election results sheets found their way to INEC collation centre where they were admitted and declared.
“Our campaign invites Nigerians to note that this is the reason the APC candidate, Osagie Ize-Iyamu, is not campaigning but rather mobilizing his group of thugs, cultists and hoodlums, (lions and tigers) as seen in the viral video, to storm polling units to unleash violence on voters, knowing that there is no way he can win in the election.
“The PDP campaign is already aware of the plots to use the cultists and thugs (lions and tigers) to convey the illegal ballot papers, result sheets as well as dangerous weapons and charms to various polling units to as well as provide illegal cover for APC agents to doctor results.
“Nigerians can now see why Oshiomhole described Ize-Iyamu as a fake pastor. Of course as the saying goes, ‘show me your friends and I will tell you who you are.
“We believe INEC and security forces have taken note of the direct criminal affront of the law by Ize-Iyamu, in openly directing his cultists and thugs to barefacedly flout election movement restriction order, and move from one polling unit to the other to execute their devilish plots.
“Nigerians should also take note of this reckless plot for chaos on election day by Ize-Iyamu, who is plotting to import violence, unleash bloodletting and derail the state because he has been rejected by the people.”