Stunned by its defeat in the Ondo State gubernatorial election after confidently predicting victory, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has dismissed the poll as a sham.
In a statement released in Abuja on Sunday night, the PDP’s national publicity secretary, Debo Ologunagba, expressed deep disappointment over the election.
He claimed that some supporters of the party, as well as those of other parties, allegedly engaged in voter inducement by distributing money on election day.
“The Peoples Democratic Party and indeed all lovers of democracy in Nigeria and across the world have just witnessed the worst election conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
“The November 16, 2024 Governorship election in Ondo State runs short of all expectations and requirements of a free, fair and credible election as it witnessed the height of electoral swindle, deceit and manipulation by the All Progressives Congress (APC).
“This election witnessed widespread election merchandising, monetization and barefaced vote buying by the APC and its apparatus in government to suppress the genuine aspiration of the people.
“This devious practice by the APC was rampant and pervasive because the APC have utterly impoverished Nigerians and turned poverty into a weapon of mass subjugation which enabled it to manipulate the election and its outcome,” Olorunagba stated.
Pointing out that PDP is currently undertaking a thorough review of the entire poll, Ologunagba who is PDP’s topmost official from Ondo State ignored allegations of his party’s involvement in attempts to influence voters with monetary inducement on election day and argued for the need to stop APC.
“We call the attention of all Nigerians and the International Community to this reprehensible practice by the APC as widely witnessed in the November 16, 2024 Governorship election in Ondo State and we demand that a serious action be taken to stem such if Nigeria’s democracy must survive.
“In the meantime, the National Working Committee (NWC) of the PDP will be having a more detailed review of the election and its outcome and take appropriate action in the defence of our Democracy,” Ologunagba stated.
