The Edo State Chapter of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Campaign Council has alleged that the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu was conniving with the APC Chieftains in Edo to rig and buy vote during the September 19 governorship election with ₦300m polled from local councils in Lagos State.
The chairman of the PDP Campaign Council’s publicity and media committee, Chris Osa Nehikhare, made the allegation in a statement, he said the intelligence available has revealed that the local councils in Lagos State have been mandated to contribute ₦15million each to finance the rigging plan.
In his words, “We are once again drawing the attention of the world and all lovers of democracy to the glaring fact that the APC is attempting to rig the Edo 2020 governorship election scheduled for Saturday, September 19, 2020, by mobilizing N300 million from Lagos State local councils, each council contributing N15 million to execute the sinister plan.
“It is regrettable and disturbing that at a time when Lagosians are suffering from the vagaries of biting economic hardship superintendent by the APC government’s policies, the party is deploying Lagos State’s resources to subvert the will of Edo People.”
In reacting to the allegation, the Chairman of the APC Media Campaign Council, Mr. John Mayaki, said that the Nehikhare story is a “fabricated” one.
Mayaki said, “The PDP is renowned countrywide for its matchless fabrications. They are masters of falsehood, but whenever Nehikhare gets excited and tries to fabricate one, he overdoes it. It is glaring that the man did not know what he was saying. He should meet Chief Dan Orbih, his mentor, to teach him the art.”
“Edo people know that APC has no interest in dishonest politics. What do we stand to gain from buying votes that the people have already promised us? Why would Lagos local government councils raise that kind of money for us? Don’t they have anything to do with the money in Lagos? If Lagos went about furnishing APC states with that kind of outrageous sum, what will they use to develop themselves? I think their claim is due to our earlier exposure on Obaseki’s order to council chairmen to release the sum of N1.7 million to 18 local government Electoral Officers (EOs)”.
