Emmanuel Addeh
The All Progressives Congress (APC) on Wednesday reacted to an allegation that it was conniving with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to rig the Bayelsa State governorship election scheduled for November 16.
In a new twist, a statement issued by the alternate Director General of the APC Campaign Council, Prof. Seiyefa Brisibe, said the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was in the process of inducing key staff of the organisation to sway the election in their favour.
The APC said that it was important to notify the national and state officials of the INEC that their integrity was at stake and should therefore clear the air on the alleged plan.
“Any perpetuation of an illegality in connivance with the PDP, which is just a paper tiger, and a rejected party in the state for its 20 years of misrule, will destroy the image of the electoral body.
“We therefore, urge INEC to withstand the temptation of being used by the PDP to truncate the electoral process, especially with regard to the November 16 governorship polls in the state.
“It is shameful that the PDP which claims to be on ground with all the structures required to win the elections, has chosen an illegal path.
“A sensible and sensitive leader would rather have spent money to clear some backlog of payments to workers and pensioners to drastically reduce the prevailing poverty in the State” the party said.
The party said that it was unfortunate that the Bayelsa state chapter of the PDP is accusing the APC of influencing the appointment of ad-hoc staff by INEC, stressing that it was a sign of a sinking party.
“That accusation without doubt is symptomatic of a sinking party which in error believes that the electoral umpire cannot on its own recruit its staff for purposes of election but must depend on others to get things done.
“The PDP has always perpetuated such illegalities to impede the electoral wishes of the people and whenever they fail in their bid to compromise the process by colluding with INEC they cry foul, which is what they have resorted to again.
“They have failed to know that it is always within the purview of the electoral umpire to select their adhoc staff for the conduct of election based on set criteria which includes competence and capacity to handle critical assignments such as election and that INEC performs this assignment with the view to conducting credible polls” the APC said.
The APC boasted that it remains a party known for its adherence to credible free and fair election.
