Ahead of this Saturday’s Presidential and National Assembly polls, the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has expressed serious concern on the heavy deployment of top security chiefs to Kwara State, the home state of Senate President and Director General of the party’s
Presidential Campaign Council, Bukola Saraki.
Spokesman of the party, Kola Ologbondiyan, in a statement said, ‘’this is part of the plot by the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led Federal Government to intimidate, harass, create fears in the minds of voters and rig elections in the state.
‘’As part of the plot, the Directorate of State Services (DSS) has deployed its Director of Operations, Etteng Bassey, as well as the State Directors in charge of Ogun and Anambra States to Kwara ahead of Saturday’s elections while the Director in charge of Kwara has been moved to Benue State. This is in addition to the deployment of hundreds of other DSS operatives from Abuja to Kwara.’’
The development came as the opposition party described the scanty attendance to President Muhammadu Buhari’s supposed mega campaign rally in Abuja on Wednesday as a parody and a further indication to Mr. President and his APC that Nigerians have rejected them ahead of
the Saturday election.
According to the party, ‘’the scanty attendance to most of President Buhari’s rallies in various parts of the country has further revealed that the APC only fabricated figures in their claims that 14.8 members of the APC voted for him at the flawed convention.
‘’Nigerians can now further see that the figures were concocted by APC leaders to give an impression that President Buhari has massive support across the country, as well as use it as basis to allocate fictitious figures for him in the Presidential election.
‘’President Buhari, who was pelted by Nigerians at his campaign rally in Ogun state on Monday, again slurred at the Abuja rally and, as usual, could not even articulate any meaningful message for his very scanty audience at the Eagle Square in Abuja.’’
PDP says the allegedly failed rallies, should serve as an ample signal to President Buhari and the APC that Nigerians have moved ahead in rallying with the people’s candidate, Atiku Abubakar, and no amount of enticement or intimidation can change that resolve.
The PDP is therefore, urging the allegedly compromised officials of the Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC), and other security agencies, to note the tide and extricate themselves from any form of entanglement or pact to rig the elections for President Buhari as they will be doing so at their own peril.
On the Kwara siege, PDP said, ‘’we also have it on good authority that soldiers will from Thursday, cordon off all entry points to the personal house of the Senate President in Ilorin as well as his late father’s compound in Ilofa Road, old GRA, Ilorin. Similarly, the police have made heavy deployment of officers and men from its headquarters in Abuja to Ilorin, Kwara state capital, where they have been instructed to arrest key political players loyal to Senator Saraki.
‘’We alert Nigerians that the Federal Government plots to use the same strategy in key states of the federation to subvert the will of the people.And these are the reasons behind APC’s boasts of winning the general elections when all indications, including the opinion polls sponsored by them, show otherwise.
‘’Such vicious plots by the APC and the Buhari Presidency will come to naught, as Nigerians are ready to confront all aggressions and vote them out at the general elections. We are therefore charging all our members and supporters to remain resolute in resisting the machinations of the APC, come out enmasse to vote and protect their votes with every legitimate means available to them.’’
Meanwhile, Ologbondiyan says the attention of the PDP has been drawn to a forged document, allegedly sponsored and being circulated by the Buhari Presidency in their last minute effort to drag down and discredit the popularity of Atiku Abubakar, having realised that Atiku is already coasting to victory.
‘’The PDP describes as appalling that the Buhari Presidency could descend as low as forging a letter and purport same to have emanated from Brian Ballard and directed to the Director General of the Atiku Abubakar Presidential Campaign Organisation, Senator Saraki, claiming a negative outcome of an opinion poll on the coming elections.
‘’This latest shenanigan by the Buhari Presidency, just few days before the Presidential election is completely preposterous, as Nigerians can easily identify the vicious paw prints and lies of the Buhari presidency. Nigerians know the Buhari Presidency as master forgers, as manifested in
Mr. President’s forged WAEC Certificate saga, which casts a dark shadow on his self-acclaimed integrity.
‘’Now that the Ballard Partners has confirmed that the said document is false; that Brian Ballard’s signature was forged and that the Ballard Partners has not conducted any survey research on behalf of our party, the Buhari Presidency should forever hide its face in shame.
In any case, the PDP and indeed all Nigerians, do not need any academic survey to see the popularity of Atiku and the fact that Nigerians have reached a consensus to elect him as the next President of our country.
‘’We know that President Buhari has been envious of Atiku and seeks all ways to pull him down; a scheme that has continued to fail. The PDP therefore urges President Buhari to accept his rejection by Nigerians and prepare to concede defeat on Saturday, instead of this disgraceful last kick of a dying horse’’, Ologbondiyan said.
