The leadership of the ruling Peoples Democratic
Party has distanced itself from the ongoing
controversy over the Ekiti rigging tape in which
some senior members of the party were heard
planning how to rig the governorship election
held in the state on June 16 last year.
In the recording, Ekiti state Governor, Ayodele
Fayose; a former Minister of State for Defence,
Musiliu Obanikore Obanikoro, former Senator
Iyiola Omisore and other individuals were heard
discussing with a serving Brigadier General of
the Nigerian Army, Aliyu Momoh, on how to use
the military to rig the election in the state.
Most of the actors involved in the saga admitted
there was a meeting, but they all denied that
rigging was discussed.
In an exclusive interview with PREMIUM TIMES,
the spokesperson of the PDP, Olisa Metuh, said
those mentioned in the scandal did not carry
out the rigging scheme on behalf of the party.
He said the party does not want to get involved
in the controversy triggered by the leaked
recording and would rather prefer that those
mentioned in connection with the matter clear
themselves.
He said the PDP as a party did not ask anyone
to rig on its behalf and will never be engaged in
electoral malpractices.
“Any tape whether real or imaginary can be
concocted in this digital world; we don’t know
what is real and what is not,” Mr Metuh said. “I
also believe that the actors in their personal
capacity will be able to talk about what really
happened.
“As a political party, we have never engaged in
planning or getting involved in any conspiracy to
rig elections or alter the will of the people,” Mr.
Metuh said.
He also said the party has so far demonstrated
maturity in elections held in the last two years.
Mr. Metuh admitted that he had not listened to
the recording but wondered whether the tape
was authentic at all.
“We had elections in five states in the last two
years, PDP won in only one state; how comes its
just that one that we won, that a tape is
suddenly surfacing to say we planned rigging.
“Why did we not plan rigging in Edo, Ondo,
Anambra and Osun? How comes the only one
that we won is the one they want to tarnish? It
is a calculated attempt to sway the minds of
Nigerians that the PDP is not capable of winning
in a free and fair election.
“Our people are even raising the fact that we
were rigged out in Osun; but we are not
engaged in propaganda, we are not engaged in
manufacturing tapes, We won election in Ekiti
state because of the love of our party, and the
massive support that our gubernatorial
candidate, Ayo Fayose, enjoys in the entire
state.
The PDP spokesperson said the Ekiti tape saga is
just another propaganda by the APC, saying if
the APC is sure of the authenticity of the tape, it
should approach the law courts to seek redress.
” In this era of campaign, where you have a lot
of propaganda, anybody with any concrete
evidence can go to either the law enforcement
agencies or the law courts to seek redress.
“For us, we are more involved in the campaign
than propaganda; our first thought actually is
that it is simply just propaganda, it is only the
court that can decide if on the matter of Ekiti
election, just like the tribunal and court of
appeal have decided. If they think there is fresh
evidence, they can go to court,” he said.
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