…PDP Responds, Says Rigging Allegation, Infantile Blackmail
SAN FRANCISCO, August 07, (THEWILL) – The All Progressives Congress (APC) has again accused the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of planning to rig Saturday’s governorship election in Osun State. But the PDP has described the charge as an “infantile blackmail”.
A statement issued Thursday by APC National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, said the party in Osun has uncovered a very damning ‘secret’ document on how the PDP intends to rig the August 9 governorship election in Osun.
According to the statement, “In the document, marked boldly as ‘CONFIDENTIAL’, a copy of which is now in the possession of APC, Osun, the programme of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to rig the election plus the projected results from the rigging exercise have been highlighted. A summary of the plan is as contained in page 1 of the document which reads as follows:-
De-register 47,000 by deleting their names from the Register. This is certainly to disenfranchise them on Saturday. Programmed ballot paper designed. By this, the import is that the voting becomes distorted in favour of the PDP through a chemical process.
Programmed thumbprint. This is being done with a view of accounting for the lacunae created between those disenfranchised and those that failed to turn up for voting. Impression on the ballot papers vanishing ink on the programmed ballot paper.
These two processes are part of the grand plan to manipulate the process through scientific rigging.
Polling units 1195 Ward 155, 406, 116.”
APC further said in the statement: “In preparation to harvest the brazen electoral heist being planned by the PDP, the document also outlines the pre-alloted scores for all the 30 Local Government Areas as follows:
| S/N | LGA | PDP PROJECTED VOTES |
| 1 | ATAKUNMOSA EAST | 10,000 |
| 2 | ATAKUNMOSA WEST | 10,000 |
| 3 | AYEDAADE | 15,000 |
| 4 | AYEDIRE | 10,000 |
| 5 | BOLUWADURO | 5,000 |
| 6 | BORIPE | 10,000 |
| 7 | EDE NORTH | 10,130 |
| 8 | EDE SOUTH | 10,000 |
| 9 | EGBEDORE | 10,000 |
| 10 | EJIGBO | 15,000 |
| 11 | IFE CENTRAL | 35,000 |
| 12 | IFEDAYO | 7,000 |
| 13 | IFE EAST | 33,018 |
| 14 | IFELODUN | 15,000 |
| 15 | IFE NORTH | 20,000 |
| 16 | IFE SOUTH | 20,000 |
| 17 | ILA | 10,000 |
| 18 | ILESA EAST | 10,000 |
| 19 | ILESA WEST | 10,340 |
| 20 | IREPODUN | 10,007 |
| 21 | IREWOLE | 20,105 |
| 22 | ISOKAN | 10,000 |
| 23 | IWO | 15,000 |
| 24 | OBOKUN | 10,203 |
| 25 | ODO-OTIN | 10,107 |
| 26 | OLA-OLUWA | 5,070 |
| 27 | OLORUNDA | 15,000 |
| 28 | ORIADE | 10,000 |
| 29 | OROLU | 7,936 |
| 30 | OSOGBO | 28,000 |
| TOTAL | 409,916 |
The party said, “The document further contains a meticulous outline of plans to rig the election Polling Unit by Polling Unit using pre-programmed ballot papers already designed, and thumb printed with vanishing ink in favor of PDP. The document further contains the plan to deploy specified numbers of impression ballot papers and vanishing ink in 1,195 polling units across 155 wards in all Local Government Areas in Osun. This, by their machination is expected to award the PDP a whopping 406,916 votes even before voting commences!”
APC said “This elaborate and audacious plan is to be carried out in connivance with key INEC officials from the National headquarters, and those deployed from other states with staunch backing of all security agencies deployed for the election, with particularly mobilised personnel, former militants and masked thugs impersonating security officials under a combined team code named ‘Election Task Force’ directly under the instructions of Mr. Musiliu Obanikoro (Minister of State for Defence) and Jelili Adesiyan (Minister of Police Affairs), Mr. Femi Fani-Kayode and Mr. Chris Uba mandated to intimidate and harass APC party chieftains, agents and sympathisers who are uncompromising or refuse their offer of filthy lucre.”
According to APC, “Evidently, PDP’s repeated boasts that it would capture Osun is predicated on this grand plan. This cannot be regarded as an empty boast considering the chronicle of recent PDP ‘abracadabras’ in Delta Senatorial, Anambra governorship and Ekiti governorship elections. All these points to the fact that PDP’s devilish plans to destroy our nascent democracy would stop at nothing to achieve its aim.
“We hereby put all stakeholders on red-alert. We call on Prof. Jega to ensure that his name does not go down in infamy as some others have. We also call on the new IGP, Mr. Abba and other security agents to show to Nigerians that they are truly professional and men and women of honor. We appeal to all Nigerians and particularly the Osun electorate to be extra vigilant and ensure that, their will is not subverted by this on-rushing brigade of evil. On our part, we shall put all machinery in place to safeguard the mandate of our teeming supporters as we shall resist all forms of intimidation or devilish manipulation of the voting process.”
The party further alleged :”According to our source, in the unlikely event that the above fails, violence must be unleashed on the people so as to forestall the announcement of the winner. In furtherance of this, Chris Ubah, has been allocated 50 soldiers to terrorise , intimidate and maim the Osun voters. Additionally, to compliment this act of brigandage, 300 thugs are camped by Omisore at Ballam Hotel, Bolonduro and are with unclaimed voters card.”
APC’s Rigging Allegation, Infantile Blackmail – PDP
The PDP has dismissed the allegations by Chief Odigie-Oyegun saying it is an “infantile blackmail unbecoming of his office and status.”
PDP National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, in a statement on Thursday, said the allegations are completely wild, baseless and mere fabrications aimed at distracting PDP members and supporters and discourage them from fully participating in the election. It said the allegation was a ploy by the APC to make its members and supporters over-confident and divert attention to their own sinister plan.
Stating that there will be no room for rigging, the PDP said “the process of accreditation, voting, counting of votes and declaration of results will be openly observed by the print, electronic and social media as well as local and international observers.”
The PDP said one of the legacies of President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration is free, fair and credible polls, adding that “such will in no way be compromised in Osun or any other election for that matter.”
It therefore called on its members and supporters to completely disregard the APC and come out en masse to vote for its candidate, Senator Iyiola Omisore, stressing that it remains focused on the election having worked very hard to earn the confidence and support of the people of Osun State.
The party reminded Nigerians of the fact that for the APC, elections are only free and fair when they win and rigged when they lose.
