Edo 2016: PDP Alleges Plot By Oshiomhole, APC To Replace Corps Members With Loyalists
FREEPRESS – The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Edo State has again alerted the international community, accredited election monitors and the general public about secret plot by Governor Adams Oshiomhole and his party, the All Progressives Congress, APC, to substitute members of the National Youths Services Corps, NYSC, trained for the Edo governorship election with their party members.
In a statement signed on Saturday by its state publicity secretary, Chris Nehikhare, PDP reinstated that the postponement of the Edo State governorship election earlier scheduled for Saturday, September 10, is in line with the governor and APC’s devious plan and had nothing to do with insecurity in the state.
The statement reads in part, ‘’The postponement was well-planned to undermine the will of Edo people, we are now convinced that the phantom security advice by the Nigeria Police Force and the Department of State Security (DSS) was orchestrated by Governor Adams Oshiomhole and some cabal within the APC in the face of imminent defeat in the election.
‘’For instance, we all know that many members of the NYSC were trained by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as ad-hoc staff for the election. And going by NYSC Action Plan September, 2016, the trained NYSC members are to finish their clearance, as part of their final disengagement process that will end on September 26.
‘’And we have just been told by insiders within the APC that Governor Oshiomhole and his party had compiled list of their party’s members that they will secretly be used to replace the out-going trained NYSC members.’’
The PDP added that one of the reasons APC also asked INEC to fix the rescheduled election for Wednesday, September 28 an official working day, is to deny many electorate outside the state, who planned to come to Edo State for the election, from doing so.
It said hundreds of the electorate outside the state had arrived Edo State before the election was postponed with many of them feeling disappointed about the action of the APC in connivance with INEC/security agencies.
According to the party, ‘’We want to once again, put the international community, accredited election monitors and the general public on notice over the devious plan by APC. It will surely undermine our democracy and instigate crisis that might be very difficult to manage if Oshiomhole and his gang are allowed to have their way.
‘’It is now certain that the Edo State governorship election earlier scheduled for September 10 was put off by Adams Oshiomhole and a group of cabal within the APC to enable them have more time to manipulate the election.
‘’And as part of their strategy, we also expect them to unleash all kinds of propaganda against our candidate in the next two weeks in order to complement their devious plans to manipulate the election.’’
PDP therefore called on President Muhammadu Buhari who had benefited from the process of a free and fair election, to caution Governor Oshiomhole and other federal institutions involved in the election not to plunge Edo State into avoidable security crisis just to satisfy the bragging ambitions of the APC, and its candidate, Godwin Obaseki.
It, in the meantime, urged the people of Edo State, especially its teeming members and supporters, to be rest assured that whenever the governorship election holds, their votes shall count and would be protected, advising them to remain calm and continue to be law-abiding in spite of the deliberate attempt to provoke them.
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