The opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kwara State yesterday clashed over alleged voters’ inducement ahead of the March 18, governorship and House of Assembly elections.
The Director General of the PDP Governorship Campaign Council, Prof Ali Ahmad, at a press conference in Ilorin yesterday, accused the ruling party of moving huge sums of money from government accounts into private bank accounts for subsequent disbursement to induce voters during the elections.
He said, “We have correct and factual information about how political office holders, private individuals outside government, influential people in our society, and even bureaucrats receive huge sums of money from government accounts.
“These individuals then either retain the money to buy their support while some others are charged with paying a huge part of the money in tranches of N20,000, N30,000 and N10,000 to voters. This is a big political scam that is going on in our state.
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Gov’ship poll: PDP, APC clash over voters’ planned inducement in Kwara
“We want to believe the EFCC is aware of this development, but we have equally instructed our legal department to formally notify them and other relevant anti-graft agencies.”
Reacting, the APC accused the opposition party of peddling “lies and chasing shadows.”
The spokesperson of the APC Campaign Council in the state and Commissioner for Finance, Olasumbo Florence Oyeyemi, said, “There is no truth whatsoever in the claims of the ever-lying PDP.
“These are the same people who celebrated the cash policy in their simplistic thinking that it would make people forget their atrocities in government and elect them back to public offices.
“It is laughable that PDP is hinging its crushing defeat on the popular pro-masses social investment programme of the administration which started in 2020.”
PDP leaders penciled for arrest – Makarfi
Meanwhile, a former Governor of Kaduna State and chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Ahmed Makarfi, has raised alarm over alleged plans to arrest and detain top members of his party in Kaduna.
He said the arrest was to stop them from participating in next week’s governorship and House of Assembly elections in the state.
Makarfi, a former chairman of the PDP National Caretaker Committee, while reacting to the arrest of the Director of Media and Publicity, Kaduna State PDP Campaign Council, Saidu Adamu, and two other PDP officials in a statement yesterday, said PDP was in possession of the list of those penciled down for arrest before the elections.
He said, “Our attention has been drawn to a list of our field officers drawn up by the government to be arrested and detained until after the elections. This has grievous implications.
“Those penciled down for arrest are drawn from Kudan, Sanga, Igabi, Lere, Kachia, Jaba and Kaduna North LGA which are believed to be PDP strongholds.
“Hon Adamu is still in detention, and we do not know the alleged offences he is being detained for, and he has also not been charged to court; it is a very sad development.”
Recall that Saidu Adamu, a former Commissioner for Information in the state, and two other PDP officials were arrested at Kabala Costain Ward and detained by security operatives for allegedly making comments on the Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket of the APC.
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