CSOs in Akwa Ibom indict PDP, APC over vote buying/intimidation

Civil society groups in Akwa Ibom State have said that both the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) and the All Progressives Congress(APC) were involved in massive electoral fraud during the just concluded general elections in the state.

In fact, they said the February 23 and March 9 presidential/National and governorship/state house of assembly elections in the state were characterized by voter inducement and intimidation.

Chairman Civil Societies Forum in Akwa Ibom, Mr. Harry Udoh, who disclosed this to the Nation in a telephone interview at the weekend, said voters in the state were heavily induced and harassed by the two foremost political parties in both elections.

According to Udoh, findings indicate that the two political parties had started buying votes since December last year.

”Now if you ask me if people were induced or if there was vote buying, i will say yes even though i can’t substantiate it. The strategy was such that,  I think from December, they had started buying peoples minds.

”The massive voters intimidation and votes buying were perpetrated by both parties. Nobody can change my mnd on that. Perhaps the party with the biggest amount of money got the day but people went to the polling units and voted.

”I think that the people voted by themselves but they were induced by pecuniary benefits. The people actually went to the polling units, queued up, voted and the votes were counted at the end of collation of each election and the results announced at the polling units”’ he said.

Udoh also absolved the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) resident electoral commissioner(REC) in the state, Mr. Mike Igini of partisanship.

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He specifically said there was never a time Igini said he was going to frustrate the APC from winning elections as alledged by spokesman of APC campaigns in the state, Mr. Eseme Eyiboh.

Eyiboh had accused the state REC of saying during a meeting with CSOs that he was going to ensure that APC loses elections in the state.

”Each time Mike Igini meets with civil society organizations in Akwa Ibom, I am always there as the chairman of civil societies forum in the state.

”We have never had that kind of discussion except I was not there when he said that. It is not true that he made that kind of statement”, Udoh said.