Kogi State chapter of African Democratic Congress (ADC) has raised alarm of an alleged plot by the All Progressive Congress (APC) led state government to rig the 2019 election in the state.
Speaking with newsmen in Lokoja on Friday, the state publicity secretary of the party, Bashir Ibrahim Ella said that has uncovered an exchange of N250 million, from the state coffers, given as bribe by the state government to the Kogi State Resident Electoral Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof James Apam and other electoral officers to influence the coming election in favour of the APC.
“Kogites should be worried that the state government could use this humongous amount for a selfish gain in spite of the recent resignation of over 80 medical doctors from the state public service over unpaid salaries and poor working environment.
“Sad to know that Civil servants in the state are still being owed over twelve months salaries while Pensioners are wallowing in pains, poverty and hunger, yet the government just perfected plans to upturn the people’s wish at the coming polls by squandering a whopping sum of N250m. What a double tragedy.
“According to an insider, electoral officers in the state have been directed to move collation centres across the state to the APC controlled local government secretariats or to the INEC state office in Lokoja instead of the lawfully designated collation centres which are the INEC offices in each of the LGAs.
“This plot is to give government officials unlawful access to electoral materials for easy manipulation of election results. Moreso, the APC Yahaya Bello led state government and INEC have perfected plans to rig the 2019 general elections in the state by creating additional polling units without the prior knowledge of other political parties in the state.
“This clandestine arrangement was designed to hoodwink other political parties into thinking numbers of polling units in each wards remain as it were, while the new created polling units, which eventually will have no party agents on ground other than that of APC will be used to allocate votes to all APC candidates.
“We also make bold to say that if it has become necessary for INEC to create more polling units, other political parties and stakeholders should be well intimated in other to make provision for agents for such created polling units before the deadline of submission of political party agents list to the commission.
“It is bizarre that INEC would collude with government with the intention of rigging election in favour of APC in the state,” he said.
The ADC spokesman demand that INEC withdraw the alleged fictitious polling units.
He called for immediate redeployment of the Resident Electoral Commissioner, Prof. James Apam over the N250m bribery allegation, adding that the opposition parties in Kogi State have lost confidence in INEC under Prof Apam.
“The party, ADC, would not accept results of elections collated in APC government offices outside of designated lawful collation centres where all parties will have unfettered access.”
He called on Kogites to be vigilant and conscious, promising to bulldoze all rigging plots of APC in Kogi ahead of the election.
