Leader of the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN and former governor of Oyo State, Alhaji Lam Adesina yesterday raised the alarm that the voters’ registers in 27 of the 33 local government areas in the state had been doctored by Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) agents.

The alarm is coming on the heels of the arrest of four persons, including an official of the INEC in the state allegedly caught with six Direct Data Capturng (DDC) machines in a hotel in Ibadan, the state capital at the weekend. The men, who are chatting with the police, were said to be erasing names of registered voters stored in the machineand replacing it with fictitious names.

Addressing reporters at his Felele residence in the city yesterday on the development, Adesina claimed that the state resident Electoral Commissioner, REC, Ayo Adekeja had admitted that registers in 27 council areas were affected.
The former governor accused the state INEC and the top hierarchy of the PDP of colluding to rig the forthcoming elections, saying they were behind the “unholy scheme.”

But, in a swift reaction, Ayodele Folami, the INEC spokesperson denied the claim credited to his boss, saying he could not have made such a statement, as nothing of such happened.But, he admitted that the Saturday incident had been reported to all the appropriate security agencies in the state. Folami said the commission was still investigating the ‘ugly incident.’He said the commission was making contact with the police and other security agencies on the way forward, adding that at the end of the investigation, the commission would tell the world on the next line of action.

Also, the ruling PDP in the state dissociated itself from the incident and accused the opposition party, ACN of maligning the party ahead of the April polls because of what it described as electoral defeat awaiting the ACN and Accord Party. Of the four people arrested, three of them were allegedly members of the ruling PDP officials of the Akala/Arapaja Campaign Organisation in the state, a development Adesina described as part of the desperate moves by the ruling party to retain the state at all cost.

He, however, vowed that any attempt to resist the popular move of the people of the state to eject PDP and its governorship candidate, Adebayo Alao-Akala through the ballot would meet with untoward consequences. The ACN leader, who was flanked by his former deputy, Iyiola Oladokun, the party governorship candidate in the state, Abiola Ajimobi, the Oyo South Senatorial candidate for the April poll, Chief Olufemi Lanlehin and other party chieftains said Saturday’s incident had confirmed his allegation against the Oyo State REC of having “an unholy marriage with Governor Alao Akala,” remarking that it had affected the integrity of the voters’ register in the state, wondering which one would now be used for the elections. He therefore made a four-point demand of INEC National Chairman, Attahiru Jega to restore confidence in the electorate in the state, ahead of the April polls.


http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2011/mar/21/national-21-03-2011-001.htm

SHAME On PDP.