Edo 2020: APC red alert on Obaseki’s alleged use of REC Igini to infiltrate INEC, bribe INEC officials, rig election

Before the Friday statement of the All Progressives Congress (APC)’s Media chairman of the Campaign Council in Edo State, the party had on Thursday at a press conference raised red alert on perceived “relatively new and dangerous dimensions of the elaborate and state-sponsored plot by Godwin Obaseki, and the PDP, to rig the September 19 Governorship election.”

Col. David Imuse (rtd), APC Chairman in Edo State, at the press conference alleged that “Governor Godwin Obaseki, has unleashed on the state an army of well-armed thugs and cultists who are moving from place to place to attack innocent people with the aim of striking terror into them and scaring them away from expressing their rejection of his corrupt and purposeless administration at the polls.”

He noted: “however, in spite of the amount of state funds he has illegally committed to the evil plot, the embattled Governor is failing. “Placing his faith in the guns and barbarity of hired goons ferried from across the country, specifically PDP states, Obaseki fatally underestimated the bravery, resilience, and resolve of Edo people to put an end to his disastrous reign, no matter what.”

The APC State Chairman in Edo was of the view that to the utter surprise of the governor, people in all parts of the state have refused to be intimidated and have stood up valiantly to his agents of terror.

Col. Imuse emphasised that rather than cower in silence and hide in their homes as intended by the Governor, the people have instead mobilized in large numbers and stood firm, insisting on their rights to participate in a free and fair election.

Imuse added that “the dawning failure on this front, rather than bestow sense on the Governor and his co-travelers, has instead driven them into another frantic search for additional arms and ammunition across the country.

“More concerning, it has also sparked a relentless and well-funded plot to infiltrate the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) where they hope to swap the will of the people, freely expressed at the polling units, with their own pre-written scripts and illegal ballots.”

The Edo APC chairman alleged: “on Thursday we received reliable information on a secret meeting between Mr. Mike Igini, INEC’s Resident Electoral Commissioner (Akwa Ibom State) and Governor Godwin Obaseki.

“Around 3.00am, Mr. Mike Igini was seen driving into the private residence of Governor Godwin Obaseki in the company of two other known allies of the Governor, one of whom was identified as Mr. Anselm Ojezua.

“At the meeting, Mr. Mike Igini, Governor Godwin Obaseki, and other top PDP allies designed and examined ways and strategies to rig the outcome of the September 19 Governorship election with an exclusive focus on the production of fake ballots and the inducement of recruited INEC ad-hoc staff to aid the success of the rigging plans.”

Imuse further alleged that “Igini, and the other associates of the Governor, left the meeting held in the Governor’s private residence with sacks of money which, undoubtedly, was illegally sourced from the state’s treasury as bribes for their cooperation and participation in the criminal attempt and plans to subvert the election and undermine the will of the people.

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“Already, before the meeting, we have received numerous information, backed with proof, on Mr. Mike Igini’s illegal conscription of youth corp members who will be playing vital roles in the conduct of the election as ad-hoc staff.”

The State Chairman further alleged that some of the corp members have volunteered information on how they were contacted by Igini and offered deals to help the PDP at the polls in exchange for cash benefits. He added that Igini was quoted by them to have personally assured safety and protection against any prosecution if they accept the offer to rig the election in favor of the PDP and Governor Godwin Obaseki.

“We have also obtained pictures of Mike Igini at Protea Hotel where visiting National Commissioners were lodged apparently running the errands of Governor Godwin Obaseki and the PDP.

“He was overheard at the hotel discussing the Edo Governorship election and the recruitment of ad-hoc staff. We dare Mr. Mike Igini to deny his presence at this hotel and we shall immediately supply pictorial evidence to the press and members of the public,” Col. Imuse declared.

He said: “Governor Obaseki’s lack of scruples and unhinged desperation to buy and shoot his way to another term in office is neither surprising nor a new fact to us and other members of the public who have been paying attention.

 

“However, we remain shocked that a senior INEC officer like Mike Igini who is expected to understand the sensitive and the sacred role of INEC in the sustenance of democracy, and why the electoral body must be above reproach of any kind, chose to sacrifice and puncture the integrity of the commission by lending himself to a criminal plot to save a sinking politician.

 

“We wish to state clearly to the public and INEC that Mr. Mike Igini has, by his actions, declared himself an obstacle to a free and fair election in Edo State. What we must now collectively do is to remove this obstacle so that the people of Edo State are not made victims of daylight robbery by conscienceless men like Mike Igini whose soul has been purchased with ill-gotten wealth.”

 

Col. Imuse said that INEC must protect its integrity and that of the Edo election by taking immediate action to purge itself of unethical and corrupt elements like Mike Igini. He added: “We also recommend that the electoral body commence an immediate self-cleansing exercise to curtail the outbreak of the corruption virus planted by the likes of Mr. Mike Igini who after receiving bags of cash from Mr. Godwin Obaseki are now selling inside information on the electoral body’s result collation process to the PDP to aid its rigging plans.”

Meanwhile, the fireworks in the build up to the September 19 governorship election in Edo State are becoming fierce. Election administrators are being pressured in the political boiling pot. The games are changing in dimensions.

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