Election: PDP allege manipulations

The governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the Ekiti State election, Dr. Wole Oluyede, has alleged voter intimidation and irregularities in the accreditation and voting process, raising concerns over the conduct of the exercise at his polling unit in Ikere-Ekiti.

Oluyede, who spoke to journalists after casting his vote at Osaguru Hall, Polling Unit 6, Ward 3, described the pace of voting as unacceptably slow, claiming that only five voters had been accredited and allowed to vote more than an hour after polling commenced.

The PDP candidate accused security operatives deployed to the area of harassing voters and alleged that some of them were operating in unofficial vehicles. He said he had gathered evidence of the alleged misconduct and would make it public at the appropriate time.

According to him, while security presence was minimal at his polling unit, there was a heavy deployment of police officers at another polling centre where the deputy governor was expected to vote.

“I feel very unfortunate that all I can get here is a handful of cameras, whereas down the road where the deputy governor votes, there is an army of policemen harassing people,” Oluyede said.

He further alleged that voters were being intimidated and claimed to have recorded the activities of the security personnel.

“They are using false vehicles. I taped them; I have evidence of that, and I will show you when it is appropriate,” he said.

Oluyede also questioned the efficiency of the electoral process, expressing concern over delays in resolving technical issues affecting accreditation.

“The process is actually useless. People have been here for about one and a half hours and only five people have voted in my polling unit,” he said.

The PDP candidate suggested that the delays could be linked to shortcomings in the electoral process, alleging that officials had been waiting for a Registration Area Technical Support (RATech) officer for about 45 minutes without success.

“You cannot disenfranchise these people. It is sad for democracy in Nigeria,” he added.

Election officials had yet to respond to the allegations at the time of filing this report.