The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has urged voters in Edo State to come out en masse on September 19, 2020 and cast their ballots for the party’s candidate, Governor Godwin Obaseki.
The PDP advised its millions of supporters to disregard underhand tactics being deployed by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to discourage them from coming out to vote on election day.
Special Adviser to Edo State Governor on Media and Communication Strategy, Crusoe Osagie, in a statement issued on Monday in Benin City, the Edo State capital, said: “The All Progressives Congress (APC) has been boasting that it already has in its kitty, the written results of the September 19 gubernatorial election, even before the election is conducted.
“This old tactic of the APC is meant to discourage voters who are very enthusiastic about coming out to vote for Governor Godwin Obaseki, come September 19.”
According to the governor’s aide: “The truth however is that the APC does not have any written result of the September 19, 2020 poll. The only result the APC has, is that of the party’s disapproval rating in the state.
“We are aware that the APC has carried out several mock polls and rounds of simulations with disappointing outcomes.
“Its gubernatorial candidate, Osagie Ize-Iyamu, and the sacked national chairman of the party, Adams Oshiomhole have supervised mass thumb printing of ballot papers in some hotels in Kogi State.
“They have also presided over rehearsals on how to snatch ballot boxes and compromise officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), who rebuffed them.
“In all of these desperate tactics of the APC, its leaders have been confronted with the hard fact that Obaseki remains Edo voters’ preferred candidate.”
Osagie explained that “the falsehood being disseminated by the APC is meant to manipulate Edo voters and create the sense that their votes will not count, and ultimately create apathy and low voter turnout.”
He urged Edo voters to disregard the lie and come out en masse to reelect Governor Obaseki for a second term.
“The APC has also experimented with propaganda, publication of outright falsehoods, fear mongering, harassment, intimidation and the use of violence but the result of all their experiments have not reversed their low rating, instead, it has reinforced in the minds of Edo people, the need not to vote for the APC.”
He added: “The resulting frustration is the shooting of PDP supporters in Edo North and elsewhere, and the destruction of PDP campaign materials across the state by agents of the APC.”
