Supplementary Polls: Nigerians will Treat APC Thugs in Military Uniforms as Fake Soldiers, PDP Threatens

Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has warned that Nigerians would treat the thugs of the All Progressives Congress (APC) dressed in military uniforms to assist the ruling party to rig the March 23 supplementary elections, as fake soldiers.

The party in a statement Wednesday by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, said it was ready to confront, resist and dismantle all rigging machinery of the APC and consolidate on its already established victory in the March 23 supplementary governorship elections.

He noted that the PDP’s position was predicated on claims by the federal government that the soldiers who unleashed violence and helped the APC to rig the February 23 Presidential election were fake.

He stated: “It is instructive to state that the PDP already has full information of how the APC is moving huge sums of money in the attempt to bribe officials of INEC to manipulate the electoral process.

“This is in addition to reports of how the APC has been sending its agents to promise money to voters and how such overtures are being rejected by the voters.

“Our structure and followership in Sokoto, Kano, Adamawa, Plateau, Bauchi and Benue states have been fully rallied at all levels of polling and collation process to resist any attempt by anybody to manipulate for the APC.”

Ologbondiyan stressed that the party also has full details of how APC has sent network jammers to the states where supplementary elections are scheduled to hold as well as how they have paid thugs to cause confusion on the day of election and snatch ballot boxes, having realised that it has no chance in the supplementary polls.

He warned the APC and its candidates to note that their ignoble schemes are already known and that the party was standing shoulder to shoulder with the people of these states to defend their votes.

“In this regard, all our agents, members and supporters have been equipped to closely monitor all the electoral processes, from the accreditation of voters, voting and collation of results, ensure that all results delivered at the polling units be immediately posted on INEC website and use all legitimate means to firmly resist any attempt by the APC to alter the
results.”