The opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has expressed concern that the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, is fixated on disrupting the peaceful atmosphere of Ondo State during Saturday’s governorship election.
According to PDP, the ruling party had begun to unleash thugs on its members in the state ahead of the poll.
While raising the alarm that APC had been plotting to compromise the poll, the PDP, at a press conference, raised eyebrows on the number of paramilitary personnel drafted for the election.
Stressing that such a move signposts plans to intimidate the opposition ahead of the election, the chairman of the governorship campaign council, Eddy Olafeso, stated that the actions of the party threaten peaceful elections.
Olafeso added that the commitment of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to ensure credible proceedings is in doubt due to recent developments in the state.
“In the early hours of Wednesday, 13th November, 2024, a very well-known APC thug in Idanre Local Government, by the name Oyewole Aderemi (aka Gulder), led a group of thugs to attack PDP supporters with guns and machetes unprovoked.
“Seven persons were seriously wounded, especially Otunba Olowoniyi Akinlemimu, who is still on admission at the Intensive Care Unit of the State Specialists Hospital, Akure.
“Others are still receiving treatment after extracting bullets from their bodies.
“Up till this moment, no arrests have been made, and the assailants were given VIP treatment at the APC Grand Finale rally in which the National Chairman of APC, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje, and Vice President, Kashim Shettima, were in attendance.
“For the integrity of INEC, it is necessary that the Commission comes clean on the transmission of election results, which was a sore point in the Edo Election.”
On his part, the Chairman of APC in the state, Ade Adetimehin, described the allegations of the PDP as false, stressing that the party was focused on engaging the electorate.
