On Friday, August 30, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) of plotting to manipulate the upcoming Edo State governorship election, scheduled for September 21.
During a press conference in Benin City, Tony Aziegbemi, the state PDP Chairman, claimed that the APC was planning to use fake Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) staff to interfere with the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) on election day. He also alleged that the APC failed to meet the requirements for uploading party agents in several polling units and local governments.
Aziegbemi said, “To our amazement, the APC did not meet the requirement in 3,037 polling units and in 17 local governments, which means the APC has polling agents in only 1,482 polling units and one local government agent. The PDP uploaded polling agents in 4,378 polling units but could not meet the requirements in 141 polling units.”
He continued, “A party that cannot upload its polling unit agents in two-thirds of the polling units cannot be trusted with power in our state. We demand that no political party be allowed to correct this anomaly.”
The PDP also demanded that INEC release the names and pictures of all appointed RTECs (Resident Electoral Commissioners) for the election and ensure that the APC does not use unaccredited agents.
In response, Kazeem Afegbua, the Media Director of the APC Campaign Council, dismissed the PDP’s claims. Afegbua stated, “The PDP has just told the public what they are planning to do, but the bad news is that we are monitoring them closely. There is no escape route for Governor Obaseki and his godson, Asue Ighodalo.”
He added, “We have already exposed the PDP’s plans to tamper with the BVAS and clone our candidate’s voice. They now want to stage protests across the state to protect their criminal elements from being arrested.”
Afegbua also criticized the PDP for allegedly spending money on a Rema concert instead of helping local market women. “Governor Obaseki did not contribute anything to the rise of Rema; he should not exploit the young man’s fame for political gain. Our market women need help—use such funds to support them instead,” he said.
