Gombe Guber: APC, PDP in word battle over alleged rigging plot

The All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Gombe State have engaged in a word battle over alleged plot to rig the Governorship and State House of Assembly polls sheduled for March 18.

The PDP had alleged that it uncovered an orchestrated plot by the ruling APC to rig the governorship and state house of assembly elections in the state.

The APC on the other hand, said the PDP was coming up with falsehood because they knew they would lose at the polls.

The spokesman of the state’s PDP Campaign Management Council, Mr Ayuba Aluke, said this at a news conference in Gombe on Tuesday.

Aluke alleged that Gov. Inuwa Yahaya of the state-led APC had perfected plans to compromise the elections in the state to ensure victory for his party and secure his re-election.

He said the PDP had obtained an audio evidence of the alleged plan and had submitted same to the security agencies, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and other concerned stakeholders for necessary action.

Aluke decried the level of desperation by the APC to “win elections at all cost through vote-buying, intimidation and compromising the Bimodal Voter Authentication System (BVAS) to get the result that they want.

“We are lucky to stumble on some information and also to scoop intelligence along the line.

“We have authenticated audio evidence where the current governor of Gombe state under the leadership of the APC is discussing and sharing information with some of his cohorts.

“He (the governor) said that he is working and planning toward rigging, manipulating and also out-smarting the BVAS machines and all the electoral laws.

“This is All in a grand attempt and design to make sure that he returns as the governor of Gombe state by any means.

“This is why we are sharing our concerns as a way of alerting security agencies to take measures to address some of these issues or events that are emerging as we are approaching the election day.”

The PDP campaign spokesperson said his party would continue to take all available legal means toward addressing their concerns while urging its supporters to remain calm while coming out on Saturday to vote massively for the PDP.

In a swift reaction on behalf of the APC, Mr Ismaila Uba-Misilli, the Director, Media and Publicity, APC Campaign Council in the state said the PDP was frightened by the sterling performance of Yahaya.

Uba-Misilli said the PDP had resorted to propagating falsehood against the governor, knowing that they stood no chance at the polls, adding that Yahaya remained a man of peace and progress.

In his words, “Earlier, I sent a press statement alerting the public of the plan by PDP to smear the name of the governor through some unscrupulous means.

“As far as we are concerned, there is no plan to rig any election so all these are concussions of facts by the PDP knowing full well that they are bound to lose the election and may not have anything to show to the public.”