Kogi: Presidency, APC Detailing Military To Rig Poll – PDP

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) alerts the nation that the President
Muhammadu Buhari-led APC government has pulled in partisan military
operatives to assist it in rigging Saturday’s Kogi state governorship
election, instead of allowing the forces to concentrate on their
statutory role of providing peripheral security during elections.

The party said intelligence information available to it shows that some
compromised military personnel led by a senior officer of the rank of a
Colonel have been detailed by the Presidency to carry out specific
assignments in support of APC candidate in the election.

PDP National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, in a statement on
Friday said the development is not only a recipe to civil disorder but
also a clear invitation to total disruption of free and fair polls in
the state if not immediately checked.

“Available intelligence shows that the deployment to Kogi state, of the
Army Colonel, who is a known APC sympathizer is part of the fallout of
last week’s secret meeting coordinated by the Secretary to the
Government of the Federation (SGF), where orders were issued to
clamp-down on PDP members and supporters to pave way for some pliable
INEC officials to manipulate the election in favour of the APC.

“Compromised troops have already been detailed to Dekina Local
Government Area, the largest PDP stronghold in the state and home of
Governor Idris Wada, where they have been instructed to create panic,
strong-arm PDP supporters, frighten and scare away voters, ostensibly to
deprive the our party of its expected large votes from the area.

“We are also aware of how the head of Security of APC candidate’s
Campaign Organization, a retired Army General, is coordinating the
movement of partisan security operatives into other key local
governments, including Igalamela, Ofu, Ankpa and Idah, to harass and
frighten PDP supporters and provide a leeway for the APC to manipulate
the election.

“The PDP also has information of the copious involvement of a retired
police officer, who is working with some men of the Directorate of
Security Services (DSS) in providing illegal arms, vehicles and cover
for APC thugs who have been positioned to attack PDP supporters during
the election.

“We find it absolutely shocking that President Muhammadu Buhari-led APC
government, a huge beneficiary of free, fair and credible election
conducted by the PDP, would so early in the day, seek to corrupt the
electoral system and willfully attempt to subvert the will of the
people.

“The PDP however notes that no amount of force and intimidation can bend
the will of the Kogi people from appropriately exercising their
franchise and using every means within the law to protect their mandate.

“While we charge our members and the entire people of Kogi state to
remain vigilant and continue to assert their constitutional rights and
liberty, we also call on the security forces to note that their duty is
primarily to the nation and its citizens, and as such must ensure that
they do not become tools in the hands of anti-democratic forces seeking
to truncate our democracy.

Signed:

Chief Olisa Metuh
National Publicity Secretary