We’ll resist moves to rig Sokoto, Bauchi, Adamawa rerun polls – PDP

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said it would resist any attempt by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to rig rerun polls in Bauchi, Sokoto and Adamawa States.

The party said there was a grand plan by the APC and INEC to manipulate the supplementary elections in those states, insisting the Commission must use card readers strictly for the exercise.

Addressing a press conference Friday in Abuja, the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan said in Bauchi State, INEC was yet to complete the collation of results to determine the margin of lead in the governorship election but was proceeding to conduct a supplementary election.

“The PDP has reports of how the INEC leadership connived with the APC to delay the collation of results from Tafawa Balewa Local government, then stampede the courts to halt the process in an attempt to ambush the March 23 Supplementary election.

“The PDP is in a comfortable lead in Bauchi and nothing can change this reality, irrespective of the supplementary election, in which we are also set to win.

“In Adamawa, we have also been informed of how the APC and INEC are conniving to cause confusion and alter the figures of already collated results of the governorship election won by the PDP.

“The situation has become so pathetic that the Adamawa Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) is yet to officially state the commission’s position on whether the supplementary election will hold or not.

“The PDP reminds INEC that it has the figures of the already collated results in Adamawa and warns that any attempt to tamper with such will be faced with dire consequences.

“In Sokoto State, the PDP alerts Nigerians of the invasion of the state by heavily armed thugs imported by the APC from neighbouring states of Kano and Zamfara to unleash violence, cause confusion and help the APC to rig the supplementary governorship election, under official protection of compromised security agencies.

“However, the PDP wants INEC, the APC, their thugs and the compromised security personnel to note that the people of Sokoto state are determined to assert themselves in this election and anybody attempting to subvert their will would be doing so at his or her own risk,” the party said.