BY GABRIEL ENOGHOLASE

BENIN—BARELY 19 days to the July 14, 2012 governorship election in Edo State, the Edo State chapter of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, has raised fresh alarm over alleged plot by the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN-led government to rig the election by sewing uniforms for National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, members currently serving in the state.

The party also alleged that the  government had  paid $40,000 to a consultant with the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to procure fake observers’ cards for its thugs to monitor the election without the security agents knowing their true identities.

Chairman of the party in the state, Chief Dan Orbih who spoke at a briefing yesterday, said his party had written three letters to INEC, opposing the current corps members serving in state being used as ad -hoc staff for the election because they had been compromised.

“Precisely on May 20,  we were invited to Abuja by the INEC Chairman Prof, Jaga for a meeting. At that meeting, we brought it to the attention of the Chairman of INEC that we are totally opposed to the use of corps members in the conduct of gubernatorial election in Edo State, we came out with evidence, video evidence of corps members in Edo State going to rallies with Adams Oshiomhole, who is a candidate of the ACN.

“We want to state very clearly to the Chairman of INEC that we are maintaining our opposition which we have communicated to the INEC through official letters. If this election must be seen as free and fair we are insisting that Jaga must not use NYSC members who are currently serving in Edo State.”

“Today we have written three official letters to the chairman of INEC stating our position that we are opposed to the use of NYSC members in Edo, they are free to go to Kano or any other place to bring corps members to conduct election in Edo State but a situation where the corps members are now members of ACN, follow the governor to political rallies, and he is paying them on a monthly basis additional sum of money because he is working in a manner that reflects that he wants them to rig the election in his favour.”

However, reacting to the allegation by the PDP, Media Director of the Oshiomhole Campaign Organization, Prince Kazeem Afegbua said that the A C N and Comrade Adams Oshiomhole had no hand in such transaction.
According to him, “Comrade Oshiomhole does not need to bribe anybody, he does not need to manipulate the electoral process; his achievements in office in the last three and half years are enough credentials to show case him to the electorate.

“It is only those who do not have antecedents of achievements; those who do not have records of performance both in their profession and politics in Edo state that will become desperate about winning election,” Afegbua said.

On the use of corps members for the conduct of the election, Prince Afegbua said, “It is not our requirements as political parties to determine for INEC those it should use as ad-hoc staff.

Ours is to play by the rules of INEC. INEC before now has conducted elections; Edo state election is not the first that they will conduct and they have always had the tradition of using corps members as ad-hoc staff because of their training, maturity and exposure and they would be able to understand the dynamics of election to the extent that they will work against rigging.”