By Seriki Adinoyi in Jos
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Plateau State Governor, Mr. Simon Lalong, yesterday traded barbs over alleged attempts by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Lalong’s government to influence the tribunal in favour of the ruling party.
The APC had swept the polls which were conducted in October 2018, but the PDP which disagreed with the result, filed over 68 petitions before the tribunal to challenge the victory of APC candidates.
Addressing a press conference in Jos yesterday, PDP accused the APC and the Plateau State Independent Electoral Commission (PLASIEC) of planning to doctor and submit a false local government results sheets to the election tribunal in order to influence its judgment.
PDP state Deputy Chairman, Mr. Amos Gombi Goyol, who addressed the conference at the state party secretariat in Jos, alleged that PLASIEC is working hard on ways to circumvent the law so as to prevent the people from recovering their ‘stolen’ mandates.
He said: “We are concerned that even while we are challenging the irregularities of the local government election on October 10, 2018, at the tribunal which is a legal means, PLASIEC is still very busy working on ways to circumvent the law.
“We have it on good authority that PLASIEC is attempting to perfect its false and doctored results sheets by offering between N5, 000 to N10,000 each to presiding officers and party agents who took part in the election for their signatures to authenticate these clearly fake documents.”
Gombi said the ‘desperation’ in PLASIEC is boundless as it tries to make the APC government in the state look good and acceptable.
But he said no matter what PLASIEC does now, it can never change the sound and message of the Plateau people on the council elections held in the state.
“As far as the PDP is concerned, the real results of the council elections are the clearest and loudest referendum yet on the Lalong administration in which the people have rejected him,” the PDP chieftain added.
However, Lalong in his reaction, described PDP’s allegations as baseless aimed at spreading falsehood in the state.
The governor’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mark Longyen, said: “PDP is merely playing to the gallery and engaging in diversionary tactics to misinform and mislead the public. They are the ones planning to buy PVCs for reasons best known to them. I challenge them to publish documentary evidence to prove their allegations or simply shut up.
“The antics of the PDP are well known. Wild speculations and brazen falsehood constitute their stock-in-trade and it is not surprising, especially as we are in the season of electoral campaigns.”
