CUPP accuses INEC, APC of plotting to ‘import voters’ for Osun rerun

The Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) says there is an alleged plot by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to rig the Osun rerun election.

INEC had declared the governorship election held Saturday inconclusive and subsequently fixed Thursday for a rerun.

The rerun will take place across seven polling units in four local government areas (LGAs) of the state.

CUPP, in a statement issued on Monday by Ikenga Ugochinyere, its spokesman, said INEC has refused to make public the list of people with permanent voter cards in the affected LGAs because it plans to “to announce a fictitious figure of uncollected” PVCs.

This coalition says the endgame of the plot is to release the PVCs to “imported voters”.

“The attention of the CUPP has been drawn to credible intelligence showing a new conspiracy by some national officers of Inec to tamper and manipulate the Osun guber rerun with the ongoing release of uncollected PVC to the desperate APC government in Osun to use imported voters to vote at the rerun,” the statement read.

“We wish to alert the public that INEC in furtherance of this move being coordinated by an INEC senior officer from South West has refused to release the official list of people who have collected PVC’s at the 7 polling units where election is to be held. We have it on good authority that less than 1000 registered voters have collected PVC’s out of the 3,498.

“This means that less than 1000 persons are to participate in the actual voting. We demand that INEC immediately release this list. The delay is a calculated plot to announce a fictitious figure of uncollected PVC to enable APC use those PVC to share to thugs imported from Lagos into Osun.

“The plot includes a move to use incidence form to vote knowing that the finger prints of those with the hijacked uncollected PVC can’t be read by the Smart Card Reader.”

The coalition called on Mahood Yakubu, INEC chairman, to caution the APC against tampering with the electoral process.

“We wish to call on Yakubu Mahmood to take charge of what is left of INEC and avoid some desperate APC compromised officers from igniting a huge crisis like the wild wild west that will lead to collapse of our constitutional governance,” the statement read.

“Indeed the votes of Osun people will count. The National Secretariat of the CUPP will for the first time practically show the strength of the coalition by moving in massively to Osun to rally candidates and supporters of all political parties in the coalition to massively vote for Senator Ademola Adeleke of the PDP to emerge as the governor of Osun State on Thursday.

“The APC cannot be allowed in its trademark style to steal another victory from the Nigerian people. Their days are numbered; they know it and their desperation cannot stop it. On Thursday, INEC will have no options but to declare the PDP candidate, a member of this coalition as the duly elected governor of Osun State.

“We call on the Commission not to succumb to the shenanigans of the APC as the good people of Osun will protect their votes, their future and their destiny on Thursday. Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere Chairman APP Spokesman CUPP.”