The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ondo State has urged the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to show more political seriousness rather than heating up the polity, ahead of the forthcoming governorship election in the state.
Spokesman for the APC Governorship Campaign Council, Mr Banji Okunomo, stated this while speaking with newsmen on Wednesday in Okitipupa.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Okunomo spoke against the backdrop of the allegations levelled against APC by the opposition PDP.
NAN also reports that the governorship election is scheduled to hold on Nov. 16 in the state.
The APC spokesman said nothing had shown that the PDP was ready for the forthcoming governorship election, saying that this had informed the series of allegations against APC by the party.
He refuted the claims by the PDP’s Media Adviser, Mr Ayo Fadaka, of security breaches by a supposed supporter of Gov. Lucky Aiyedatiwa, the APC governorship candidate.
“Our attention has been drawn to a recent publication by the PDP, alleging breach of security by a supposed member of the APC.
“We state without equivocation that this report is untrue. We also want to caution the PDP to stop making comments that could heat up the polity.
“Those who know Mr Governor can testify to his gentlemanly disposition because he is a level-headed and civilised politician who does not breed or encourage political gangsterism or hooliganism”.
“APC is not only law-abiding, it will not tolerate anything that can undermine the electoral process. So PDP should stop alleging criminal plans by APC,” he said.
Okunomo further stated that it was untrue that the APC campaign council had co-opted the Chairman of Amotekun Corps in the state, Mr Adetunji Adeleye, as the head of its security committee.
He said that Amotekun corps was not constitutionally allowed to take on security duties during elections.
“We particularly find this allegation laughable because we expect the PDP to know better.
“We, therefore, find it awkward that PDP is alleging that APC is planning to use men of the corps for electoral duties. That did not happen in previous elections and it will not happen now,” he said.
Okunomo said that PDP was becoming notorious for its baseless accusations, stressing that the party was looking for another means of deceiving the people of the states.
This, he said, was coming weeks after PDP had raised unnecessary alarm over the indigeneship status of the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in the state.
“Few weeks ago, the PDP called for the redeployment of the REC in the state, alleging that she is from Ondo State.
“This was later found to be untrue as the said woman is not from this state, and now that their propaganda has failed, they are looking for more false stories to circulate.
“We advise the PDP to get more serious; they should give up if they are tired of selling their candidate to the people.
“Rather than focus on issue-based campaigns, the PDP has taken to baseless accusations, thriving in pettiness and mischievous propaganda,” he said.
Okunomo said he had observed that nothing from the conduct of the PDP showed that it was ready for the governorship poll.
“The PDP’s attitudes point to the fact that they are developing cold feet as they anticipate their defeat in the forthcoming election,” he said.
The spokesman advised PDP to take a cue from the modus operandi of APC and learn the art of campaigning.
“APC has focused on campaign rather than engaging in bitter politics.
“We wonder why an acclaimed opposition party will not focus on the main issues but going about peddling rumours about how APC is planning to rig the election.
“If there were indeed plans to rig the forthcoming election, Ayedatiwa could simply have leveraged the power of incumbency and wide acceptance rather than embarking on rigorous door-to-door campaign.
“Ayedatiwa has speaking to people from town to town and reaching out to those at the grassroots because he understands the power of the people in a democracy,” Okunomo said. (NAN).
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