PDP, APC biker over vote-buying in Edo Saturday LG poll

The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) are at odds over allegations of vote-buying ahead of the local government elections in Edo State on Saturday.

Tony Aziegbemi, the state chairman of the Edo PDP, claimed in a statement released yesterday that the APC and a director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) had come to an agreement to rig the election and purchase votes with N150 million.

“We are once more calling the world’s and all supporters of democracy’s attention to the obvious fact that the APC is attempting to rig the local government elections scheduled for Saturday, September 2, 2023, by obtaining N150 million from the Niger Delta Development Commission to carry out their evil plan to buy votes and rig the elections.

“It is regretful and alarming that the party is using the NDDC’s resources to frustrate the will of the Edo People at a time when the Edo people are already suffering due to the criminally neglected federal highways and the severe economic hardship overseen by the APC-led Federal Government.

“It is dishonourable that the APC-led Federal Government is buying votes with money intended for the development of the oil-rich Niger Delta. We are clear that the APC’s employment of this dishonourable strategy is a result of their certainty of defeat, he stated.

The N150 million, according to Aziegbemi, should be used by the NDDC to repair the ineffective federal highways in Edo State. He also said that if the APC candidates want to win the elections, they should canvass the electorate and promote their policies and candidates to the Edo people.

The Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) embattled factional state chairman, Aziegbemi, made some baseless claims about a scheme to rig and purchase votes in the next council elections using N150 million from the NDDC. The APC quickly responded by claiming that the party was ashamed of the false claims.

“These allegations are baseless and unfounded, but coming from a decapitated body, it is understandable,” the party said in a statement signed by its state assistant publicity secretary, Ofure Osehobo. On life support, the Edo PDP. Nevertheless, the Edo APC is dedicated to a free and fair electoral process and we have faith in the ability of our people to select the upcoming generation of local government officials free from outside interference or influence. With the junta in Edo, though, this is a far cry.

“The factional PDP Chairman’s declaration about the utilisation of NDDC funding is false and devoid of supporting data. The NDDC is autonomous and sets its own goals and priorities. Any suggestion that money from the NDDC would be utilised for improper reasons is an obvious attempt to harm the commission’s and the APC’s reputations. But Mr. Aziegbemi finds this incomprehensible.

“We also find it humorous that the Edo PDP, whose leader—for lack of a better term—Governor Godwin Obaseki—has already written the results of the elections with PDP candidates serving as chairman and councillors across the 18 local government areas, is the party raising issues.

“For the record, the Edo APC calls on the PDP to back down from its outrageous accusations. We think that Edo citizens should be able to select their leaders based on merit and cannot be misled by misleading information and unjustified charges from a loser party like the PDP.

Gen. Charles Airhiavbere (rtd), director of Administration and Finance in NDDC, also spoke at the Edo South APC stakeholders meeting yesterday. He dismissed the PDP charge as untrue and claimed that NDDC interference in the election was unproven.

He claimed that the PDP was anxious about its approaching defeat in the elections and declared that the APC was prepared to assume the lead in the state beginning with the LG elections on the following Saturday.

What supporting data do they have? They are already uneasy about APC’s impending strong leadership. The NDDC has nothing to do with the election, and I believe they have already heard rumblings of an APC underground movement that is working to win on Saturday. The more rumours they spread, the more prepared we are to disprove them.

He said that the stakeholders and candidates had met to finalise plans and assess their level of election readiness. He asked the APC members not to be sidetracked by rumours and urged them to turn out in large numbers on election day.

The seven local government leaders of Edo South’s Wards took turns describing how prepared for the elections they were at the stakeholders meeting.