APC Ekiti absolves self from buying of votes, says it has damning evidence against PDP

The Ekiti State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has claimed of being in possession of materials showing Gov. Ayodele Fayose, his deputy, Prof. Kolapo Eleka and PDP buying votes from electorate in the state. This is even as the party absolves itself of buying votes in the just concluded Governorship election in the state.

Recall that the PDP flag bearer, Eleka has rejected the outcome of the just concluded election in the state, citing various irregularities in the election which the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Dr. Kayode Fayemi as the winner.

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In a statement on Tuesday in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, by its Publicity Secretary, Taiwo Olatunbosun, APC condemned vote-buying, saying such practice should be discouraged to allow democracy grow and praised Ekiti people for massively voting for APC.

The party secretary who noted that the gesture would ginger Fayemi to continue with his pro-people oriented programmes to lift Ekiti people out of poverty, also urged media houses to hear all parties involved in an election, saying selective treatment of issues is a denial of fair hearing for correct public judgment.

The party said it did not join the despicable act of inducement to con the people of Ekiti.

“Fayose and Eleka are known for throwing tokens at our people from the resources of the state, using the instrument of government. They believe that is what their loyalty is worth and they never had any plan to lift them beyond the poverty level.

“The return of Fayemi as governor of Ekiti State is a signal that God still answers the prayers of his people whenever they are under torture.

“The victory signals an end to poverty, squalor and oppressive tendencies of a mindless government that shamelessly refused to pay workers their dues, yet could afford to credit the accounts of voters and some sections of workers with amounts ranging from N3,000 to N100,000, just to curry their voting favours.”

APC accused some media houses of penchant for unfair selection of party executives to speak on pertinent matters of public interest.

It added: “We take exception to Channels penchant for inviting PDP officials for media engagements while it calls just members of APC to address matters that would have been best handled by party officials.

“This is not fair to our party because there are issues that are better handled by party officials instead of just members.”

The statement stressed that APC never got itself involved in vote-buying but gave some stipends to its agents legitimately as honorarium for their services.

It said: “The act of buying votes with the state’s resources and transacting through the accounts of government at a time arrears of salaries are not paid is a serious crime, which Fayose and Eleka have committed and which deserves condemnation by all well-meaning people of the state.