The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has accused the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Nigerian Presidency of arm-twisting security agencies and plotting to replace Electoral Officers (EOs) in “some critical states” with APC agents to allegedly rig this Saturday’s presidential election.
The Director of Media and Publicity of the PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation, Kola Ologbondiyan, told newsmen on Wednesday in Abuja, that the INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu had allegedly succumbed to pressure to replace Electoral Officers in PDP strongholds in order to rig the election in favour of President Muhammadu Buhari.
The states, according to Ologbondiyan, are Kano, Kaduna, Rivers, Bauchi, Akwa-Ibom, Zamfara, Benue, Sokoto, Lagos, Plateau, Taraba, Borno, Adamawa, Kogi, Delta and Ebonyi.
“At a meeting held in Buhari Presidency/APC situation room in the Presidential Villa last night (Tuesday) where Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, the Managing Director of Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA), Hadiza Bala Usman, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mustapha Boss, among others, were in attendance, Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) were directed to issue out result sheets to APC agents to falsify and declare results in favour of the APC.
“Also, our party has full details of how the Department of State Services (DSS) has been interfering with operations of critical departments of INEC, including the ICT department, to do APC bidding.
“The PDP also has details of the meeting last night (Tuesday) by President Buhari, some APC northern governor and Service Chiefs last night, whereupon pressure was mounted on the Service Chiefs in connection with the APC rigging plans.
“However, the PDP, in clear terms, assures INEC, compromised security agents and President Buhari that their evil plans will definitely come to naught.
“Nigerians are now, more than ever before, determined in rallying with our party, to confront, resist and stop President Buhari and the APC on their trail to rig the February 23 election.
“These APC EOs have been briefed to ensure the diversion of sensitive electoral materials from designated polling centres, delay the accreditation process, so as to frustrate voters’ enthusiasm, compromise the collation process to allocate and announce fictitious results for President Buhari and muddle up the process to pave way for result cancellation where it becomes impossible to rig for President Buhari.
“It is now clearer that the Election Day killing order issued by President Buhari is designed to clamp-down and even kill patriotic Nigerians who will want to confront and stop the APC from executing their rigging plots on the day of election,” the PDP said.
