The All Progressives Congress in Osun State has accused the Peoples Democratic Party of collaborating with the Nigeria Customs Service to bribe voters in the state with expired rice ahead of the August 9 governorship election.
The Director of Publicity, Research and Strategy of the APC in Osun State, Mr. Kunle Oyatomi, said in a statement he made available to our correspondent in Osogbo on Saturday that the PDP collaborated with the Nigerian Customs’ warehouse in Ikeja where the expired bags of rice were loaded and transported to Osun State to induce voters.
The APC spokesperson further alleged that the PDP had started to re-bag the expired rice to deceive intended recipients.
But the Chairman of the PDP in the state, Gani Olaoluwa, in his reaction, described the allegation as a lie fabricated to portray the opposition party in bad light.
Olaoluwa, who spoke to our correspondent on the telephone, said the rice being distributed was for Ramadan.
He also accused the APC of distributing sachets of expired milk and noodles, saying the PDP gesture was aimed at cushioning the effect of poverty forced on the people of the state by the party’s bad governance.
The APC statement read in part, “The All Progressives Congress has warned Osun people that the PDP, in collaboration with the Nigeria Customs’ warehouse in Ikeja, has loaded trailers filled with thousands of bags of expired rice confiscated several months ago from smugglers.
“The expired bags of rice, which is poisonous, are being brought to Osun for distribution to voters. Competent sources from the Customs have also revealed that the concernment of those rice are unsuitable for human consumption. Osun citizens should therefore be warned that their lives are at risk from PDP poisoned rice.
“It is clear then that what the PDP intended to do was to bring expired rice to repackage and distribute to Osun people. Osun people are not hungry and they will not sell their birthrights for stolen public money, which the PDP want to distribute in towns and villages of Osun.”
The PDP chairman, who urged the people of the state to ignore the “lies of the APC” promised that the opposition party would improve the economy if its candidate was elected.
He said, “The APC is being mischievous. The party has resorted to fabrication of outright lies to discredit the PDP, having realised that the people have rejected their party.
“ Our people know they are liars and they should not be taken seriously. They are jittery due to the popularity of the candidate of our party, Otunba (Iyiola) Omisore.
“We distributed rice to the people of the state during the Ramadan season three years ago; we did the same two years ago and last year. Did they raise any allegation? They are doing that because of the election? We just want to advise our people to reject the expired sachet milk and noodles from the APC.”
Armoured Personnel Carrier APC always acting drama instead of campaigning de re busy condenming if u re defeated 2moro u blame GEJ 4 nt allowing ur party rig d election u beta use d money u use in publicising lies 2 publicise wat u hav achieve
ReplyDeleteThis is becoming a huge Joke
ReplyDeleteno mater wht pdp wil.d wil not win in osun.take it or leave it apc wil surely cum out victorious
ReplyDeleteno mater d bag of rice share by pdp.no mater d federal might.apc wil win in osun state.
ReplyDeletemark my comment.
owen ten in calabar
up apc.down pdp.pdp sharing bags of rice or not.pdp federal might or not.apc wil stil cum victorous in d forth cuming electn in osun state.douters mark my word
ReplyDeleteowen ten in calabar
I live around the Nigerian Custom's Training School/Warehouse in Ikeja, Lagos and I can confirm the authenticity of the news being shared here. This is quite routine these days, as trailers of rice seized by the Customs over the months/years now were shipped out under the cover of darkness to God knows where. Now we know where these consignments were disappearing to. Shame to these politicians! They used the "stomach infrastructure" system in Ekiti, now they want to use same in Osun state. Now, Ekiti has become Ekiti State- Land of Stomach Infrastructure.
ReplyDeletePikin wey fail exam, go say him mama na witch. Make u na dey there dey propaganda, people don wise up now.No one selfish man and his family will continue to decide the faith and future of millions of individuals in a zone that boast of the. greatest number of intellectual and young vibrant politicians and activists. It is a contradiction. Every empire normally reach the peak and crumbles.It is a fact of history.
ReplyDeleteWhere are the NAFDAC people? God save us in this country against poisoned rice.
ReplyDeleteNawa o! Dis kind quest for power at the expense d populace. Dis is really rediculous. Since PDP cannot protect d public pre-election, then wat will become of d public after election? Y must dis rice sharing commence dis yr like in the case of imo state? Dis is really far from normal. Well, i will advise u APC to use d time u spend poke-nosing into affair dt will add no value to development to build-up something special and equally organise urselfs for the upcomin election and stop chasing ur shadows.
ReplyDelete@Ojoma, you commented that Ekiti state- Land of Stomach Infrastructure, produces "greatest number of intellectual", I stand to disagree with you on this. You will agree with me that this assertion of yours did not hold in the last election in your state (I presume you are from there). Your people simply were hungry and did not care about any policy that will not benefit them immediately. What a misnomer; intellectuals don't behave that way. You have shown that finesse of government policy don't count when wads of currency and bags of expired rice are talking. God help Nigeria!
ReplyDelete@anonymous 11:05 am But they will collect whatever you have and vote their conscience,That is a mark of maturity and political sagacity. Mind you APC also gave out numerous gifts including money apart from rice moreover APC was banking on arms twisting, threats and violence thinking that it was business as usual(Lagos is a case study where alayes/ hoodlums and their cohorts hold sway in polling booths and thump print after chasing away genuine voters)) but the massive deployment of security forces could not allow to happen hence both local and independent observers confirmed the landslide victory as not freest but also fairest election in recent time in Nigeria.O pari!
ReplyDelete