Romanus Ugwu, Abuja and Bamigbola Gbolagunte, Akure
The All Progressives Campaign Council for Osun Governorship Election told the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), on Tuesday, it is free to quit the re-run scheduled for seven polling units, tomorrow.
In a statement issued in Abuja, by the Chairman of the Council’s Media Committee, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the council said the threat by the PDP to challenge, in court, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)’s declaration of last Saturday’s election as inconclusive was nothing but sheer bravado.
He said the PDP is merely afraid of losing the rerun.
Mohammed, who is also the Minister of Information, said the PDP may also have contrived the court threat as a way of distracting the APC and its members ahead of the rerun, calling that distraction strategy dead on arrival.
“The PDP knows that the so-called court challenge which it has threatened to mount will not fly, especially because the highest court in the land has already pronounced on the issue of whether or not INEC has the powers to declare an election inconclusive.
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”The PDP is not unaware of the pronouncement of the Supreme Court in the case of James Abiodun Faleke vs INEC and others, that, INEC has the duty of conducting elections and that, besides the constitutional provisions, it is guided by the Electoral Act, 2010 (as amended) and the Election Guidelines and Manual issued for its officials in accordance with the Act.”
Meanwhile, the PDP has raised the alarm over alleged plans by the APC to cause mayhem in the state, ahead of the tomorrow’s governorship re-run election.
The party also alleged that the APC has masterminded assaults and attack against some of its members and inflicted bodily harms on them.
National Vice Chairman (South West) of the party, Eddy Olafeso in a statement issued in Akure, Ondo State, yesterday, alleged that the APC has concluded plans to hijack ballot boxes on election day.
He alleged that “thugs would hijack ballot boxes and they would be chased by fake security officers decked in uniform of a marginal security agency who would pursue the said criminals and recover the supposed box from them, while the box would have been replaced in the process.
“Therefore, we call on our agents and the entire people that they must not allow the ballot box be snatched by anyone, and if any box has been snatched at all, such votes must be cancelled.”