Five days to the governorship and state assembly elections, officials of the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Gombe State are engaged in accusations against each other over a plot to rig the March 18 polls.
Spokesman of the state’s PDP Campaign Management Council in the state, Mr. Ayuba Aluke alleged that the state governor, Alhaji Inuwa Yahaya has perfected plans to compromise the elections in the state to ensure victory for his party and secure his re-election.
Citing an audio, a copy of which has been submitted to the security agencies, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and other concerned stakeholders, Aluke said the APC was desperate to “win elections at all cost through vote-buying, intimidation and compromising the Bimodal Voter Authentication System (BVAS) to get the result that they want.
“We are lucky to stumble on some information and also to scoop intelligence along the line.
“We have authenticated audio evidence where the current governor of Gombe state under the leadership of the APC is discussing and sharing information with some of his cohorts.
“He (the governor) said that he is working and planning toward rigging, manipulating and also out-smarting the BVAS machines and all the electoral laws.
“This is All in a grand attempt and design to make sure that he returns as the governor of Gombe state by any means.
“This is why we are sharing our concerns as a way of alerting security agencies to take measures to address some of these issues or events that are emerging as we are approaching election day.”
The PDP campaign spokesperson said his party would continue to take all available legal means toward addressing their concerns while urging its supporters to remain calm while coming out on Saturday to vote massively for the PDP.
Reacting, the APC Director, Media and Publicity Campaign Council in the state said, Mr. Ismaila Uba-Misilli, the PDP was uncomfortable by the sterling performance of Yahaya., adding that the opposition parting resorted to propagating falsehood against the governor, knowing that they stood no chance at the polls, adding that Yahaya remained a man of peace and progress.
“Earlier, I sent a press statement alerting the public of the plan by the PDP to smear the name of the governor through some unscrupulous means.
“As far as we are concerned, there is no plan to rig any election so all these are concussions of facts by the PDP knowing full well that they are bound to lose the election and may not have anything to show to the public.”
Uba-Misilli said the PDP was spreading falsehood to gain goodwill or to score political points but “I advise them to face their campaign and woo voters.
“Let them stop propagating falsehood against the governor.
“The governor is a man of peace and one who has so much to show to the public and electorate for them to vote for him.
“The electorate is ready to vote for the governor, in fact, they are willing and ever ready to give him a resounding victory come March 18, 2023.”
