The All Progressives Congress, APC, says it has in its custody two documents which uncover how the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, plans to rig Saturday’s governorship election in Osun State, by projecting fake results in all the 30 local government areas.
Chairman of the APC, John Odigie Oyegun, said at a press conference in Osogbo on Thursday that the first document marked ”HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL” contains the outline of plans to rig the election, polling unit by polling unit, using pre-programmed ballot papers already thumb printed with vanishing ink in favour of the PDP.
Oyegun said the second document, entitled ”Task Force: Operation (PDP) takeover of Osun”, lists the actions to be taken at most of the 30 local government areas in the state, including thuggery, snatching of ballot boxes and instigation of violent clashes.
He said the ‘secret’ document further contains the plan to deploy specified numbers of ballot papers and vanishing ink in 1,195 polling units across 155 wards in all over Osun State, in addition to a plan to de-register 47,000 voters, whose voters identification numbers have been illegally acquired so that they do not find their names on the voters register on election day.
The APC chairmen also alleged that one of the documents contains the number of pre-allotted votes for each local government to make up the number of 406,116, which the PDP has awarded to itself even before the commencement of voting.
APC gave the breakdown of the self-allotted figures as contained in the document as follows: Atakumosa East (10,000); Atakumosa West (10,000), Ayedaade (15,000), Ayedire (10,000), Boluwaduro (5,000); Boripe (10,000); Ede North (10,130); Ede South (10,000); Egbedore (10,000); Ejigbo (15,000); Ife Central (35,000); Ifedayo (7,000); Ife East (33,018); Ifelodun (15,000) and Ife North (20,000).
Others listed in the document, the party alleged are: Ife South (20,000); Ila (10,000); Ilesa East (10,000); Ilesa West (10,340); Irepodun (10,007); Irewole (20,105); Isokan (10,000); Iwo (15,000); Obokun (10,203); Odo-Otin (10,107); Ola-Oluwa (5,070); Olorunda (15,000); Oriade (10,000); Orolu (7,936 and Osogbo (28,000).
The party alleged that the plan is to be carried out in connivance with key officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, from the national headquarters, and those deployed from other states, with the 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’.
The operation, the party alleged, is to be coordinated by a minister and a senator.
It said the mandate of the task force includes the intimidation, harassment and arrest of APC party chieftains, agents and sympathizers who are uncompromising in order to create a conducive atmosphere for their operation.
However, the PDP has denied these claims, describing them as malicious and diversionary.
The Osun State publicity secretary of the PDP Bola Ajao, said the APC only resorted to such tactic to hoodwink the people of the state having realised that defeat is staring them in the face.
Similarly, INEC spokesman in Osun State, Adenike Tadese, dissociated the commission from the allegations, but said she could not react to them since she was hearing about them for the first time.
The Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC, of INEC, Olusegun Agbaje, and supervising national commissioner for the Osun State election, Mohammed Ahmad Wali, while briefing election observers on Thursday in Osogbo assured them of a peaceful and credible poll.
They said allegations that INEC was planning to rig the election in favour of a particular candidate were false and baseless.
Wali disclosed that there are over 2,500 electoral observers from 29 bodies, 19 local and 10 foreign.
He called on the observers to be independent and professional in the discharge of their duties on Saturday.