BENIN—EDO State chairman of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Chief Dan Orbih, has alleged that officials of the state government and the All Progressives Congress, APC, have perfected plans to collude with the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, officials in the state, especially in Edo South senatorial zone, to ensure that card readers were immobilised during this weekend’s state House of Assembly elections.

He said the move was to enable them use cloned cards and strangers to rig the election especially in Orhionmwon Local Government Area of the state.

He also alleged that the APC and the said government officials were arming thugs ahead of the election to cause mayhem throughout the state.
Orbih, who spoke with journalists in Benin, said: “We commend INEC in Edo State for their efforts during the presidential and National Assembly elections and we want to also advise them not to allow themselves to be used by the governor and his agents, who are hell bent on manipulating the state House of Assembly elections as a result of the humiliating defeat they suffered during the last election in the state.

“Information has it that they are luring some officials of INEC to work with them to ensure that the card readers do not work on election day to enable them use cloned cards and strangers to cast their votes especially in Orhionmwon and other local government areas of the state where they feared that they would be defeated like what happened in the last election.

“For me, my advice to INEC is that it should not allow the overbearing attitude of the governor to derail them from conducting free air and credible elections in Edo State.

“We are going to make a formal report to the Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC, over the disturbing conversation the Electoral Officer of the local governments in Edo South had with our candidate thinking that he was speaking to the APC candidate. Unfortunately for him the details of that conversation was recorded and we are going to formally make a report on that particular Electoral Officer and we do hope the REC will take necessary action to prosecute the Electoral Officer in question for action capable of derailing the conduct of free and fair elections as guaranteed in the constitution.”

However, in his reaction, state Publicity Secretary of the APC, Mr Godwin Erhahon, said that his party did not need to collude with any INEC official to defeat the PDP in the coming election, describing the allegations as tissues of lies.