Kwara Bye-election: PDP recruiting thugs, fake observers, APC alleges, as State Chairman, Bolarinwa, says party set to take Kwara from Saraki in 2019

Ahead of the By-election for Ekiti/Irepodun/Isin/Oke-Ero Federal Constituency in Kwara, the All Progressives Congress (APC) has allegedly accused the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of importing thugs to disrupt the exercise.

The APC made the allegation in a statement issued by Femi David, an official of the party in Omu-Aran on Saturday.

The APC also accused the PDP of recruiting fake election observers, monitors and officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

“In its desperation and characteristic manner to subvert the will of the people, the PDP has been recruiting thugs and fake election observers to disrupt the exercise.

“The thugs and fake election observers are to be strategically placed in the strong hold of the APC candidate, Mr Raheem Olawuyi AKA Ajulopin.

“The PDP has been importing thugs from Rivers, Delta and other neighbouring states to intimidate and harass voters in order to scuttle the exercise, having sensed imminent defeat in the by-election.’’

According to the APC, most of the thugs are presently being camped in one of the hotel owned by a stalwart of PDP with the full support of the state government.

The APC urged security agents, especially the Inspector-General of Police, Mr Ibrahim Idris to swing into action by mounting surveillance in and around the constituency to forestall the breakdown of law and order during the by-election.

“APC hereby put the people of the constituency on alert to report any suspicious move to the security agents in order to have a hitch free exercise..’’

It warned that no amount of intimidation, harassment and hooliganism would deter the people from voting out the PDP on November 17.

“The PDP no longer has hold on Kwara, the people must be allowed to exercise their franchise without any inhibition.

“The APC remains the party to beat in the election, importing thugs to scuttle the election will amount to an exercise in futility.’’

In a swift reaction, the PDP Chairman in Irepodun Local Government Area, Alhaji Saheed Oyelowo said that the allegations were mere fabrication and remained in the realms of speculation.

According to him, we are not in government at the national level, we are only controlling Kwara, so how can we mobilise thugs from other states.

He also reiterated PDP’s commitment to a credible and peaceful election.

In the meantime, respondents, who spoke on the development from Lagos side, called on security agencies not to handle the APC’s alert with levity.

Mr. Wale Ogunyemi, one of concerned citizens that have been talking on the need for integrity-based elections from now on, in the country, said, “The information is that the imported thugs are being camped somewhere.  Let the security agencies move in and ensure the great job they did in Ekiti and Osun states continue in that bye-election in the Kwara federal constituency.”

In the meantime, Chairman of APC in Kwara State, Alhaji Bashir Bolarinwa, has assured Nigerians, who have sympathised with Kwara people over the long time of grip without development by the Saraki dynasty, that his party, pushed back to opposition by the antics of Senate President Bukola Saraki, would take the state back in 2019.

The APC State chief spoke in a telephone interview with The DEFENDER on Saturday, during which he said “we have our strategy and we are keep our strategy to ourselves. As for whether Saraki may have planted his moles in our midst, I can tell you that in politics anything can happen. But in Kwara, the people are ready for Saraki and we are relying on God and we are not relenting in our efforts.”

Asked how prepared the APC in state was in the wake of Bukola Saraki’s political and financial might, Bolarinwa asked, “What might is mightier than the might of God?”

He said, “We are more than prepared and we are doing our best possible to ensure that the hope and aspirations of the people of Kwara come to reality.  This is what we are doing and it is what we want to achieve.  People of this state say they are tired of Saraki and we are ready for the task and with Abdulrahman Abdulrasaq as our governorship candidate, we will retrieve the people’s mandate and hand it back to them come 2019”.