Both the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) have been accused of colluding to preload card readers to be used for the July 14 governorship election in Ekiti State with a view to manipulating the poll in favour of APC’s candidate, Dr Kayode Fayemi.
Dr Ayodele Fayose, the Governor of Ekiti State who made this allegation also said the criminal act is being perpetrated in Akure, Ondo State in collaboration with the Ondo State Government.
He stated this on Friday night while answering questions on a radio and television programme in Ado-Ekiti called “Governor Explains.”
In a statement by the governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Mr Idowu Adelusi, on Saturday, he quoted the governor as saying that over 550 polling units spread across the state were targeted to be preloaded with between 50 and 200 votes in favour of the APC.
“I don’t want to bring this picture out yet, but those who said preloading is not possible are lying. Right now, they are doing manual preloading in Akure as I speak. For polling units with over 1,000 voters, they spread the preloading to between 50 and 200 votes per polling unit. In Ikere, 58 of such polling units were targeted and Ado-Ekiti has 158 of such polling units. They want to get people they will stuff with the ballot papers and dump such papers in the ballot boxes at such polling units.
“They are also printing fake voter’s cards in Akure with support from the Ondo State Government. They are also working to bring in about 14,000 people from Ondo State to come and vote here. They have already issued fake 7,000 voter’s cards and they are daily printing this. They promised to give each person N15,000 if they help them stuff ballot boxes with fake ballot papers they are printing,” he said.
He therefore urged the people of the state to be vigilant during the election and challenge any strange face they see.
On the plan to employ 2,000 workers into the state’s workforce, Fayose said the exercise was prompted by demands from the organised labour, as many teachers and civil servants are retiring in critical sectors.
“In 2006, during my first term, I employed over 6,000 people into the state’s workforce and this time around we need to also beef up some sectors in the teaching and public service. Our exercise is different from what Kayode Fayemi did during his tenure where he collected money from applicants and over 18,000 people applied and nobody was given job.
“We are not collecting one naira from the applicants and we are making the process transparent. We are even going to give token amount to the applicants to help pay for their transport fare. Despite the challenges we are encountering over payment of salaries, apart from the fact that we will get over that, we can’t stretch our workers beyond limits,” he added.
Governor Fayose also challenged Fayemi to account for the over N46 billion he collected as excess crude oil funds while in office.
He noted that Fayemi lacked moral right to seeking the governorship seat of the state after he plunged it into huge debts.
Fayose also chastised Fayemi for saying that the great gain Ekiti State made in public examinations conducted by the National Examinations Council and the West African Examinations Council was because the state government bought examination papers for the students and engaged in what is called “miracles centres”.
“This is not only insulting, but Fayemi is actually calling the teachers lazy. In Fayemi’s bid to rubbish our efforts and the gains we have recorded in the education sector, he shot himself in the leg. These are the teachers he planned to sack, but we came on board and encouraged them. We also provided the tools and other things necessary to make their work easier and we have the positive result. Fayemi and the APC are enemies of teachers and Ekiti people in general,” he said.
Fayose added that the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Prof. Kolapo Olusola and his running mate, Mr Kazeem Deji Ogunsakin, would emerge victorious in the coming poll.
Packaged by Omotoyosi Jesuleye
