The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Governors Forum has alleged that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has concluded plans to rig the Saturday’s governorship election in Bayelsa State, using Indians.
The governors alleged that using cloned Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) and fake security agents were some of the strategies adopted by the APC to rig the polls.
The Forum urged the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Sunday Arase, the Department of State Service (DSS) and military authorities to guard against the infiltration of their ranks by “fake personnel of the APC.”
The PDP Governors Forum (PDPGF) in a statement on Monday by its Director General, Earl Osaro Onaiwu, said that the APC had brought in Indians to effect the PVCs’ cloning in order to circumvent the electoral process in Bayelsa State since the party knows it cannot win without manipulating the system.
Onaiwu alleged that the Indians, numbering five, were lodged in a hotel owned by an APC chieftain in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, where the card cloning process was ongoing.
“The APC is desperate to capture Bayelsa State as an oil-producing state which fits into the party’s inordinate ambition to take over all oil-producing states which was proposed by Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State.
“To achieve this dangerous plan, the APC brought in five Indians, all IT experts, to help them clone PVCs for the Bayelsa governorship election. We are raising this alarm so as to alert Nigerians, the INEC and the international community on the machinations of the APC against democracy and the right of the people to freely elect those that should govern them.
“The INEC must demonstrate its independence and commitment to free, fair and credible election by being vigilant and ensure that it does not kowtow to the wimps and caprices of the APC by ensuring that only authentic cards are used,” the statement said