The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, on Tuesday alleged that the ruling All Progressives Congress and the Presidency are planning to use security agents to intimidate voters and rig the Irepodun/Ekiti/Oke-Ero/Isin Federal Constituency by-election in Kwara State scheduled for Saturday.

The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, made the allegation in a statement made available to journalists in Abuja.

Ologbondiyan claimed the party is aware of a directive that the Divisional Police Officers in the nine police divisions of the constituency be transferred and replaced with friendly officers.

He cautioned President Muhammadu Buhari and the APC that such plot to rig the election would be a direct invitation to a crisis.

He said, “Having realised that there is no way they can win in any election in Kwara State after being rejected by the people, the APC and the Buhari Presidency are bent on manipulating the electoral process, including using our security agencies, particularly, the police against the will of the people.

“The PDP is privy to clandestine meetings at the Presidency, where the APC leaders handed down orders to the police high command to compromise the security architecture in Kwara state by transferring the Divisional Police Officers in the nine police districts of the Federal Constituency and replacing them with officers believed to be pliable to instructions to execute the APC’s rigging script in the election.

“Moreover, the people of Kwara state already have details of the brief handed to the new DPOs, including providing cover for APC thugs procured to unleash violence on voters and PDP supporters, snatch ballot boxes and disrupt elections in certain areas as well as to alter election results to favour of the APC candidate.

“The people are also aware of the directives to harass, intimidate, arrest, and detain indigenes of Kwara State, and to provide cover for the importation of aliens from other areas by the APC to participate in the election.

“The PDP, therefore, cautions the APC and their team of compromised security and electoral officials to retrace their steps or face the full wrath of the people of Kwara State, particularly, those in Irepodun/Ekiti/Oke-Ero/Isin Federal Constituency, who are now at full alert and completely rallied to protect their political territory and to defend their votes to the end with every means available to them as free citizens under the law.” – Punch

– Nov. 13, 2018 @ 17:35 GMT |