We rely only on Oyo masses not rigging, vote buying ― PDP Chairman

Chairman, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Oyo state, Mr Omokunmi Mustapha has cautioned the All Progressives Congress (APC) against any form of victimisation of the opposition for vote buying, noting that the PDP only relied on the votes of the masses of the state.

Mustapha said this warning became expedient owing to observed plans by the ruling APC to use security and government apparatchiks to manipulate and stifle the opposition in Saturday’s election.

Mustapha who spoke with Tribune Online at his Iseyin residence, on Monday, said that the PDP was unable to match the financial strength of the APC leading to its loss in Saki, Iseyin and in some local government areas in the February 23 election.

He, however, avowed that with the masses who sought liberation from suffering, God and the merger of opposition parties, the PDP’s governorship candidate, Seyi Makinde will win Saturday’s election.

“They APC victimised us with money in the last election; we don’t have money, police, soldiers, agencies, INEC.

“The PDP performed well but it was not up to expectation. Our performance was good but there were so many anomalies. There were a lot of manipulations by the present both at the national and state governments.

“In some local governments like Saki, Iseyin and some in Ibadan, there was a lot of rigging. The PDP performed as well as it did because the people are fed up of the present government.

“We are not in government, we don’t have the INEC; we don’t have the financial strength to buy votes compared to APC who sent planes full of money to all corners of Nigeria. The PDP bigwigs had their accounts frozen and they were unable to access money.

“They victimized us with money; we don’t have money, police, soldiers, agencies, INEC. The APC controlled everything and we are very much aggrieved with the way the election panned out.

“By the special grace of God, it won’t happen again in this Saturday’s election. We may not have all the apparatuses that the ruling party has but we have the people. The people know that they have suffered a lot in the hands of the present government, whether workers, traders, teachers, businessmen and anybody, unless those who are part of the present government may say they have no cause to suffer.

“There is no hope that this government has not had a bad effect on their lives. The lives of many people have been ruined by the present government.

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“Oyo state people are tired and you will see people who are not PDP members vote for us. We are confident that by the grace of God, PDP will rule Oyo state and Seyi Makinde will be our next governor,” Mustapha said.

Speaking further, Mustapha described the withdrawal of former governor Adebayo Alao Akala from the planned alliance of opposition parties as sad, sudden and unbelievable.

“It was Alao Akala himself that initiated our coming together when he was bitter noting that we could not go on with the suffering. You will pity the ordinary man on the street. We were thinking of how to kick the current government out and have a government that will cater for the commoners.

“The arrangement was going on well, there was no argument on what each person will get or give, but all of a sudden, a plane came from Abuja to take Alao Akala away. He went and the next day, he said, the powers from above asked him to come and then he said he will now be joining the APC. It is very sad and I never believed such could happen,” Mustapha said.