By Valentine Amanze
Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, has raised the alarm that the All Progressives Congress (APC) and some officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) were plotting to disenfranchise
thousands of eligible voters in areas considered as stronghold of People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the state.
He said on Wednesday, May 30, 2018 that the ruling party and INEC’s plan was to delete not less than 40 percent names from the Voter Register, using the
Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) as a decoy and targeting Ado Ekiti, the state capital, and Ikere Ekiti where the PDP candidate comes from.
According to Fayose, “The APC did not stop at this; they are currently distributing fake Empowerment Forms and cash to unsuspecting electorate, using a phony organisation, with the aim of deactivating Voters Cards, thereby disenfranchising thousands of voters.
“They are also putting pressure on INEC to use Incident Forms as alternative to the Smart Card Readers, so as to rig the July14 election.”
The governor wondered why Incident Forms not used during the Anambra election were being contemplated in Ekiti, while asking, “What has changed?”
He said, “To heighten their game, the APC in collaboration with INEC are planning to heavily preload the Smart Card Readers and also release ballot papers to their members for ballot stuffing to justify the preload.
“The whole world is therefore placed on alert on the desperate bid of the APC to circumvent the will of Ekiti people at all cost, not minding the danger it portends for democracy in the country.
“We are raising this alarm to save this country from major consequences in the buildup to the 2019 general elections because the planned rigging of the Ekiti State election will serve as a prelude to their planned rigging of the elections, which is capable of plunging the country into avoidable anarchy.”
