Osun guber: Adeleke alleges plan to buy voters’ cards, disenfranchise voters

By Ismail Azeez

Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, has raised an alarm over an ongoing coordinated, illegal operation by the Osun All Progressives Congress (APC) to buy up voters’ cards and extract pin numbers from them to disenfranchise voters ahead of the August 15 polls.

This was disclosed in a statement released on Thursday and signed by the Governor’s spokesperson, Olawale Rasheed.

The statement warned against what Adeleke called illegal and anti-democratic activities targeted at compromising the voters’ register, electronically disenfranchising voters, and manipulating the outcome of the August 15 election.

It also called the attention of the electoral commission to the untoward development.

Citing multiple reports from across the 30 local governments and the Area Office, the governor accused the Osun APC and its agents of monetarily inducing the public to part with their voters’ cards with the intent to disenfranchise them. He warned members of the public to protect their voters’ cards and never part with them.

Adeleke further alleged that APC agents are extracting the pin numbers on the voters’ cards by offering monetary rewards, warning that the operation specifically targets local governments with a huge followership for the Accord Party.

“The plot is to ensure massive dislocation of registered voters from their place of registration, such as from one town to another, thereby making it impossible for such voters to vote on the day of the election.”

“In some other local governments, the APC agents insisted on voters swearing an oath to take inducements to secure the pin numbers or a photocopy of the voters’ cards,” he alleged.

The governor charged voters not to fall for an evil plot to deny them their voting rights.

Describing the development as a criminal practice and a breach of the provisions of the Electoral Act, the governor called on the electoral commission to wade into the matter, noting that reports point to insider collusion in the APC operations.

“I task the electoral body not to look the other way. We have reports of insider collusion which we are still investigating. Any link between the pin numbers on the voters’ cards and manipulations of the voting process is a source of concern for us. We trust the electoral body to act.”

“My dear people of Osun State, don’t sell your voters’ cards; your cards are your power to vote and elect your leaders on August 15 and beyond. Osun APC wants to stop you from voting. Don’t submit your cards,” the statement concluded.