PDP accuses FG, APC of plots to rig Saturday’s supplementary elections

By YUSUF MOHAMMED

The Peoples Democratic Party , PDP has alleged that there are plots by the Federal Government to hijack the March 23 governorship supplementary elections scheduled to hold in six states.

The states are Kano, Sokoto, Benue, Benue, Adamawa and Plateau.

But Justice Abdulaaziz Waziri of the state High Court,  Yola, Adamawa State, on Thursday ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission not to conduct the elections in the state pending the determination of a counter-affidavit filed by INEC challenging the jurisdiction of the court to entertain a post-election matter.

However, the PDP said the plot to hijack the election was allegedly hatched at a security meeting by the Presidency with certain top officials of INEC and security agencies.

The National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Mr Kola Ologbondiyan, raised the alarm at a press briefing in Abuja.

He also said that there was substantial evidence to show that there were some elements within the Presidency and the commission that were planning to subvert the elections, especially in Bauchi and Kano states.

He alleged that the security meeting directed the deployment of 30 personnel of the Department of State Services and 300 riot policemen to each of the states where supplementary election would take place.

Ologbondiyan said the PDP was comfortably leading in all the affected states, stressing that nothing could alter its victory in the elections.

He said, “Our party is informed of how a top Army officer, at the meeting, directed the INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, not to ever declare Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike winner of the state governorship election, even when it is clear to all that he won the election.

“We also have details of how a top military officer, who is from Bauchi State, at the meeting directed the INEC chairman not to declare our victorious Bauchi State governorship candidate, Bala Mohammed, as the winner of the Bauchi State governorship election.

“The PDP is also privy to how a director of one of our security agencies, who was at the meeting, undertook to use his agency to deliver Kano State to the APC.

“In spite of all, the PDP wants the Buhari Presidency and the APC to come to terms with the fact that their conspiracies will be of no avail as our candidates are marching to unassailable victory with the people.

In a swift reaction, the APC said that it would not respond to allegations by the PDP on alleged plan to hijack the supplementary governorship elections until it was fully briefed on the claims by the main opposition party.

The National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Mr Lanre Issa-Onilu, who spoke with the press, insisted that he needed to read the details of the PDP allegations before he would react.

He said, “The PDP makes a lot of unfounded claims. We need to know what they are saying in details before we would react. For now, I don’t have them and until I have them, I cannot react.”