Edo: PDP, APC fight over vote-buying plot, Tinubu mentioned

Adeyinka Adedipe, Benin

The Edo State Peoples Democratic Party Campaign Council has raised the alarm over plot by the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola A Tinubu and APC chieftains in Edo State to rig and buy votes during the September 19 governorship election with N300m polled from councils in Lagos State.

The Chairman of the council’s publicity and media committee, Chris Osa Nehikhare, in a statement alleged that each local council in Lagos State had been mandated to contribute N15m each to finance the rigging plan.

He said, “It is regrettable and disturbing that at a time when Lagosians are suffering from the vagaries of biting economic hardship superintended by the APC government’s policies, the party is deploying Lagos State’s resources to subvert the will of Edo People.”

He queried the interest of Tinubu in the outcome of the poll in Edo, noting that the people are resolute in truncating the reign of godfathers in the state.

But the APC in Edo State in a statement by the Chairman of the APC Media Campaign Council, Mr John Mayaki, said Nehikhare “fabricated” the story.

 He said, “The PDP are renowned countrywide for their matchless fabrications. They are masters of falsehood, but whenever Nehikhare gets excited and tries to fabricate one, he overdoes it. It is glaring that the man did not know what he was saying.”

 “Edo people know that APC has no interest in dishonest politics. What do we stand to gain from buying votes that the people had already promised us? Why would Lagos local government councils raise that kind of money for us? Don’t they have anything to do with money in Lagos?”

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