With only five months till the general elections of 2023, the PDP's Engr. Seyi Makinde, the governor of Oyo State, is said to have been planning a large vote-buying operation as well as other constitutional violations, according to the APC's Oyo State Chapter.
This information was disclosed in a statement made accessible to media on Thursday and signed by Olawale Sadare, the publicity secretary for the main opposition party.
According to the data at its disposal, the Oyo APC said that Governor Makinde has devised plans to find 50 people in each of the state's polling places and bribe them with an amount of N50,000 every month.
The statement also alleged that the governor will soon appoint Heads of Local Government Administration as Zonal Permanent Secretaries to coordinate the 50 voters per polling unit.
The party alleged that the appointment of Zonal Permanent Secretaries for 2023 election duties is unconstitutional as Governor Makinde will be laying bad precedence that will plunge Oyo State into a political crisis.
“Vote buying is an electoral crime in breach of Article 130 of the Electoral Act 2010, as amended and the 2018 revised Code of Conduct for political parties as stated in Section VIII.
“We’re cautioning Governor Makinde and the PDP to stop frittering away the state’s resources on vote-buying. Attempts to buy votes are indications of failures of the PDP-led administration in Oyo State.
“Oyo State electorate are urged not to be hoodwinked into a calamitous mistake in re-electing PDP in 2023 elections through financial inducements.
“PDP government’s innumerable abysmal failures is unpardonable and a fundamental reason electorate must repay the ruling party with total rejection at the next year polls.”
Oyo APC, while calling on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to rise to the occasion so that the peaceful, free, fair, credible and acceptable elections, which the state is known for, would be maintained.
”The party also urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), to put Makinde administration and his party on strict financial watch in order to checkmate their diabolical plans.”