*Says, ‘they’re promising rice, yam and banana’
The Peoples Democratic Party in Ondo State has raised the alarm over reports that agents of the All Progressives Congress and the Alliance for Democracy have
been collecting people’s voter cards in Akure, the state capital, with a promise to offer them food items.
In a statement issued on behalf of the party by the Eyitayo Jegede Campaign Organisation, signed by Mr. Kayode Fasua, the PDP said this had finally confirmed its previous allegation that the two parties were bent on rigging the November 26 governorship election.
The party stated: “This is no hearsay or rumour. It is common knowledge that the leg-workers of the APC and the AD have been going to markets, shops, offices and homes of residents in the state to collect their voter cards with the promise of bags of rice, tubers of yam and bunches of banana.
“This is a clear indication of a desperate attempt by these perpetrators to buy up a non-existent popularity and reduce our people to mere articles of trade.”
The party added that the voter cards obtained from the people were actually meant to rig the election through forced inducement of food items, and possibly, money.
The party as a result urged the people of the state not to yield to any temptation of giving out their voter cards to anyone, as the cards remain their power to decide on who becomes the next governor of Ondo State.
“Please, turn down their Greek gifts of rice, yam and banana. Turn down their money meant to buy up your conscience. After they have won through the backdoor, God forbid, they will turn their back on you and start lining their pockets and feathering their nests.
“The truth is: the money they are giving you will be doubled and even tripled if they win, leaving the masses impoverished and jobless and the infrastructure to decay,” the PDP counselled.