Fayose accuses Fayemi of hiring four INEC officials to rig poll

•Lies won’t save you from defeat, ex-gov replies
•INEC denies, asks PDP to substantiate claim

Governor Ayodele Fayose has accused Kayode Fayemi of hiring four top officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to rig the poll in his favor.

He disclosed this at the weekend in a state radio and television broadcast in Ado Ekiti.

Fayose gave the names of the INEC officials as deputy directors, ICT, Pasca Ukenwa, and Abdulrasak Agboola, as well as Procurement Officer, Kenneth Ukeagu, and INEC Commissioner, Amina Zakari.

The governor explained that Ukaegu was planning to acquire ballot papers, while the ICT directors would reload card readers to favor Fayemi.

Accused Zakari of being a professional rigger, who Anambra State rejected during its governorship election, because they feared she would rig the election.

“They got into power at the federal level because the process was transparent. I have told INEC not to rig for me because the people of Ekiti are solidly behind our candidate,” he said.

The governor disclosed that part of their plan is to stuff their pockets with ballot papers when coming to vote.

He implored the people to stay at the polling units after voting, adding that the government is also aware that the APC has camped some thugs in various hotels ahead of the poll.

He reiterated that the Federal Government is delaying state allocations to prevent him from paying salaries and thus, instigate workers against his government.

He said; “They held a meeting last week Saturday and decided to delay the allocations so that workers won’t get salaries until after July 14 poll, asking: “Is that a government that loves the masses?”

Reacting, the Kayode Fayemi Campaign Organization accused Fayose of spinning “irresponsible lies,” which would not save the governor and his candidate, Prof. Olusola Eleka from defeat.

The organization's Director of Media and Publicity, Wole Olujobi, said: “Ekiti people were done with a fraudulent and callous administration that manipulates the people always for selfish motives.”

He said: “Fayose is haunted by his past when he criminally manipulated INEC to win the 2014 election, as revealed in Capt. Sagir Koli audio tape.

The PDP National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, had further challenged the Yakubu-led electoral commission to conduct serious checks on the allegations against the affected officials.

Meanwhile, the Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, Mr. Rotimi Oyekanmi, has dismissed the allegations, and asked the PDP to validate its claims.

Courtesy: The Guardian