The Delta State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has criticised President Muhammadu Buhari ahead of his visit to Warri.
The president is expected in Warri today (Monday) for a town hall meeting ahead of the governorship and state Houses of Assembly elections on March 9.
But the PDP believes that the trip is aimed at concluding plans to rig the elections on behalf of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
In a statement on Monday, the State Publicity Secretary of the party, Dr. Ifeanyi M. Osuoza, said that it was the second visit in about two months.
Osuoza also asked why the president has always “limited his visits to a microscopic Warri and ignoring the larger areas of the state”.
The statement read in part: “Already, the entire Delta State is abuzz with claims and insinuations and it is being openly said that the President and indeed the whole gamut of well-known election manipulators and hatchet men in the national APC leadership are visiting Delta State ostensibly to perfect an APC rigging plan and subvert the electoral process and the ultimate democratic decisions of Deltans who have sworn to return Governor Ifeanyi Okowa for a well-deserved second term and vote for all the PDP candidates in the March 9, 2019 State Assembly elections.
“It is indeed a thing of shame that President Buhari will ignore other very important and urgent state matters to come to Warri to be at the head of a despicable scheme to manipulate and swing votes in favour of the unpopular APC and its candidates.
“We condemn the president’s insensitivity to the sensibilities of the people of Delta State who have taken PDP as their party.”
The party also alleged that the President plans to “secretly get the various agencies of the Federal Government, namely, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the police, the military and other security agencies to intimidate and harass PDP supporters.”
The president is, however, yet to respond to the claims.
Those expected to attend the town hall meeting, later on, include traditional rulers, opinion leaders, politicians, market men and women, National Assembly members, candidates for the March 9 elections, and stakeholders in the Nigerian and Delta Project.
