Makinde Trying To Frustrate Voters By Manipulating INEC, Oyo APC Alleges

The All Progressives Congress in Oyo State on Sunday has alleged that there are covert plans by the Peoples Democratic Party and the Independent National Electoral Commission to change the location of some polling stations with a view to frustrating voters on the day of the election.

The allegation was contained in a statement issued on Sunday and made available to journalists in Ibadan by the APC’s Publicity Secretary, Olawale Sadare

The APC spokesperson said Governor Seyi Makinde, has allegedly compromised some staff of  INEC in order to assist in relocating polling units in the state to locations which may be inaccessible or non existent on election day.

The statement read, “Makinde, already getting the signals pointing to his inevitable electoral doom, has issued a standing instruction to some bad eggs within the Oyo State office of INEC, to immediately relocate several polling units across the state, from their advertised addresses to unknown or obscure locations.

“A run-through of the affected units revealed clearly the devil behind the detail; they are units considered strongholds of our party, which given the pervasive atmosphere of free, fair and credible elections in Nigeria, our party is expected to win hands down, without fuss.

“Not only would this plot cause voters incalculable stress on election day, for many will be hearing of such for the first time on poll day, but many will also become disenchanted once they are unable to locate the new polling units. This will then drop the idea of participating in the voting exercise and thus reducing the chances of the electoral victory of the preferred candidate

“By this notice, we alert the INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, the Zonal Electoral Commissioner, the Resident Electoral Commissioner and all electoral stakeholders to beam the commission’s searchlight on the activities of INEC staff, especially those in the Oyo State office, so that they do not allow some bad eggs tarnish the commission’s hard-earned reputation nor put to disrepute, its concerted efforts at organising free, fair and credible polls”, the statement added.