The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has urged President Muhammadu Buhari not to succumb to pressure from the All Progressives Congress and Governor Rotimi Akeredolu to rig the October 10 governorship election.
The party said the president should maintain the standard for a free, fair and credible election as witnessed in the September 19 Edo election.
Addressing journalists on Sunday, the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, boasted that the party’s candidate, Eyitayo Jegede, enjoyed the greater support of the overwhelming majority of Ondo people and was in good stead for victory.
Ologbondiyan, who is the Chairman, Publicity Sub-Committee of the PDP National Campaign Council, said that was despite the recourse to violence, threats, hate comments as well as desperation by the APC and Akeredolu to manipulate government institutions to rig the election.
He said plot was to use violence and ‘federal might’ to muscle the election against the wishes and aspirations of the people of Ondo state.
The party said APC, spurred the people to vote him and his self-serving administration out of office.
He said, “It is not Eyitayo Jegede’s fault that Governor Akeredolu failed as a governor, and that the people identified him (Jegede) as a rallying point in their quest for a new and purposeful leadership.
“Governor Akeredolu wasted the chance given to him and should have nobody but himself to blame for the electoral loss that would befall him on Saturday.
“If Governor Akeredolu had done well in the last four years, he would have been celebrating his achievements instead of threatening his people, running from pillar to post to manipulate election and seeking to drag in the Presidency.
“Our campaign therefore calls on President Muhammadu Buhari not to succumb to pressure by a failed Governor Akeredolu and the APC to renege in his resolve not to interfere in elections, as amply witnessed in the September 19 Edo election.
“We invite Mr. President to note the applauses and commendations coming to him from all parts of our nation and the global community over the non-interference of his Presidency in the conduct of a free, fair and credible election in Edo state, a development that allowed the will of the people to prevail.
“Mr. President must not allow a failed Governor Akeredolu, who had been justly rejected by his people for non-performance and who has declared his citizens as his “enemies for life”, to detract from his desire in this regard.”
“Our campaign therefore urges President Buhari to adopt the same Edo stance to ensure a free, fair and credible election in Ondo, without regard to partisan consideration, so that he can leave a legacy of electoral uprightness for which posterity and history can be kind to him.”
The PDP warned that any attempt to manipulate the electoral process at any level would be a recipe for a breakdown of law and order, which the president should resist.
It expressed concerns over violence already being perpetrated on the streets of Ondo state by those it called APC murderous agents.
The PDP called on the President to direct the Police and the Department of State Services (DSS) to prepare ground for a peaceful election by immediately cautioning the APC chieftains plotting violence.
“This is more so as information reaching us indicates that such characters plot to pose as agents of federal authorities and unleash mayhem on the people.
“Mr. President is therefore further urged to direct Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and security agencies to restrict themselves to their statutory responsibilities as the Ondo people are ready to treat violators as fake security and fake INEC operatives.”
