- Safiu Kehinde
Ahead of the 2024 Edo Governorship election, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has charged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to resist any form of manipulation of the electoral process by the All Progressive Congress (APC).
PDP made this charge in a statement issued on Friday by its National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba.
As contained in the statement, PDP decried alleged plot resist the plot by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to smuggle in unaccredited Polling and Collation Agents after the opposition party failed to meet the July 30, 2024 deadline for the uploading their polling and coalition agents’ bio-data on INEC portal.
They had uploaded emojis, pictures of foreigners, social media pictures, and non-human photos on the portal as their Polling and Coalition Agents, with an alleged attempt to mobilize thugs.
The statement read in part; “The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) charges the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to firmly resist the plot by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to smuggle in unaccredited Polling and Collation Agents after the APC failed to meet the deadline stipulated by the Electoral Act, 2022 and INEC Guidelines for the September 21, 2024 Governorship election in Edo State.
“It is already public knowledge as posted on INEC’s Portal that the APC failed to upload its over 3000 Polling and Collation Agents with the required bio-data and cannot be allowed to submit any Polling and Collation Agent after the deadline for submission on July 30, 2024 as doing so would amount to rigging the process.
“It is clear that the APC did not upload the required bio-data of Agents with the sinister aim to cause confusion, smuggle in thugs masquerading as Agents to trigger crisis on election day and pave way for its planned manipulation and disruption of the poll having realized that it has no prospect of winning the election.
“Only this can explain why the APC fraudulently uploaded emojis, pictures of foreigners, social media pictures and non-human photos as Polling and Collation Agents, with the intention to use same as placeholders for thugs imported from certain APC States.”
While calling on INEC and security operatives to ensure credibility during the electoral process, PDP charged Edo people to remain vigilant and alert.