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PDP, APC trade words over alleged plots to rig Edo governorship election
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and All Progressives Congress (APC) in Edo State exchanged words at the weekend over alleged plans to rig Saturday’s governorship election in the state.
At a press conference in Benin City, the Edo State capital, on Sunday, the state’s Commissioner for Communication and Orientation, Chris Nehikhare, accused a former governor of the state, Adams Oshiomhole, of planning to rig the election in polling units around his hometown in Iyamho.
Nehikhare claimed that the same scenario played out in the 2020 election where 210 people were accredited, but over 1,000 votes were recorded.
He also alleged that the state government had uncovered massive production of masks and police uniforms by APC agents to disrupt voting processes in units and wards where they knew they stood no chance of victory.
“We have also uncovered plans to redeploy all the security officials attached to Godwin Obaseki in order to leave him without protection and render him vulnerable as we head into the election as well as on election day.
READ ALSO:Edo PDP claims presidency released $2m to rig Sept 21 governorship poll
“We also call on the international community, embassies of the United States, United Kingdom and the European Union, as well as the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS) and the African Union to prevail on President Bola Tinubu so that the electorates in Edo can cast their votes in favour of whoever they believe is best to lead their state for the next four years,” the commissioner stated.
However, responding to the allegations, the Director of Publicity, APC Governorship Campaign Council in the state, Orobosa Omo-Ojo, said the PDP, its governorship candidate, Asue Ighodalo, and Governor Obaseki are “suffering from horrific hallucinations.”
He said the PDP’s call for external help was akin to that of a misfit man who mischievously set his own house on fire and asked neighbours to save him from the inferno.
“Nigerians are reminded of Governor Obaseki’s recent charge to his ragtag supporters that the September 21, 2024 election is a ‘do or die’ contest the PDP must win. He shamelessly reminded his deflated party thugs that they will die if APC wins.
“Going by the prevailing scenario, Nigerians can tell who the merchants of violence are. For us in the All Progressives Congress, our cardinal goal is to sack the PDP from Edo State through the ballot and set our people free from the vise-grips of buccaneer capitalists that have ruined the state and mortgaged the future of Edo people,” Omo-Ojo concluded.
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