PDP PLANS TO RIG ELECTION WITH BALLOT PAPERS - LAM ADESINA

Former governor of Oyo State and the leader of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in the state, Alhaji Lam Adesina, yesterday raised a fresh alarm over the resolve of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to buy ballot papers in a bid to rig next Saturday's election.

To achieve the evil plan, Adesina alleged that a whopping sum of N5billion had been budgeted, with a special directive from Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala that all the local government chairmen in the state must produce a sum of N100, 000 for each polling booth in their council area.

Addressing a press conference at the party's South-west office in Ibadan , the former governor said the new ploy by the PDP-led government in the state to rig next Saturday's election, if not checked, might lead to a state of anarchy as the ACN would not allow it.

'We are battle ready for him, Akala is hell bent to rig the election and ACN too, we are hell bent to checkmate him. Nigerians should know that, if there is any problem in Oyo State , there is problem in Nigeria . We would not allow some political rascals to trample upon the rights of Oyo State citizens,' Adesina said.

He alleged that the new strategy of the ruling PDP was reached in an emergency meeting between the governor and his kitchen cabinet.

He then called on Prof. Attahiru Jega, the Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to warn all INEC staff in the state not to be used by PDP to cause confusion as the people of the state already knew where they were going.

He also reiterated his earlier call that some fake National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members had been recruited by the state government to work at polling stations as INEC adhoc staff, urging Jega to flush out such fake adhoc staff before Saturday's election.

Adesina demanded that all mutilated voters' register must be corrected by the electoral body before the next election, saying 'there must be proper identification at each polling station. Form ECHA must also be taken to each polling booth.'

He insisted that various allegations leveled against the state chairman of the electoral body must be investigated , while those arrested in connection with the discovery of Direct Data Capturing(DDC) machine at a hotel in Bodija Ibadan must be prosecuted.