Gombe Guber: PDP, APC Engage In War Of Words

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Gombe state have locked horns over an alleged plan to rig the March 18 governorship and state house of assembly elections.

The tug of war began when the PDP accused the APC of planning to rig the Saturday’s governorship and state house of assembly election.

In reaction to PDP’s accusation, the APC accused the PDP of disseminating false information since the party was convinced that it wouldn’t win the election.

Ayuba Aluke, the spokesman for the state’s PDP Campaign Management Council, asserted during a press conference in Gombe on Tuesday that Inuwa Yahaya, the state-led APC governor, had planned ways to tamper with the election results to win for his party and secure his re-election.

He asserted that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the security services, and other interested parties had received audio proof of the alleged conspiracy and were reviewing it to determine the best course of action.

Aluke slammed the alleged APC’s “win elections at all costs” approach, which included intimidation, vote-buying, and tampering with the Bimodal Voter Authentication System (BVAS).

“We are lucky to stumble on some information and also to scoop intelligence along the line”, Aluke said.

“We have authenticated audio evidence where the current governor of Gombe state under the leadership of the APC is discussing and sharing information with some of his cohorts.

“He (the governor) said that he is working and planning toward rigging, manipulating, and also out-smarting the BVAS machines and all the electoral laws.

“This is All in a grand attempt and design to make sure that he returns as the governor of Gombe state by any means.

“This is why we are sharing our concerns as a way of alerting security agencies to take measures to address some of these issues or events that are emerging as we are approaching the election day.”

APC’s response

In reaction to PDP’s accusation, APC said Yahaya’s outstanding performance alarmed the PDP, according to Ismaila Uba-Misilli, Director of Media and Publicity for the APC Campaign Council in the state.

Uba-Misilli asserted that the PDP started making up accusations about the governor after realizing they had no chance of winning the poll.

To gain support from the public or gain political advantage, the PDP, according to Uba-Misilli, only spreads lies. However, “I advise them to face their campaign and win over voters,” he said.

He continued, “Earlier, I sent a press statement alerting the public of the plan by the PDP to smear the name of the governor through some unscrupulous means.

“As far as we are concerned, there is no plan to rig any election so all these are concussions of facts by the PDP knowing full well that they are bound to lose the election and may not have anything to show to the public.”