The former National Publicity Secretary of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Timi Frank has alleged that intelligence at his disposal showed that Osun governorship election slated for Saturday, 16th July, 2022 would be rigged in favour of APC.
The rigging strategy, he disclosed, would be through intimidation, harassment and mass arrest of the Peoples Democratic Party leaders and supporters.
He urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and security agencies to work together and prevent APC from rigging the election, stating that attempt to rig the election would be fiercely resisted.
Frank who is the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) Ambassador to East Africa and Middle East, noted that, APC was becoming unpopular by the day due to its hidden agenda to Islamise Nigeria through a Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket for 2023, which has been noticed by Nigerians.
Accordingly, “the APC’s desperation to retain power calls for plots to rig opposition’s Ademola Adeleke out just like the way they did in the last election.”
He urged INEC to rise against vote buying by the APC, arguing that the Ekiti scenario was ugly as vote buying was the order of the day.
In a statement he issued and made available to CAPITAL POST on Thursday, Comrade Frank said: “We don’t also want a repeat of the last governorship election in Osun State, where the candidate of the PDP won, but INEC connived with APC by declaring the election inconclusive during declaration of results.
“Therefore, the INEC must not only be transparent, but must ensure that all those who plan to disrupt, rig or engage in vote buying are promptly arrested and subsequently prosecuted.
“Nigerians and the international community are watching to see if INEC and the security agents deployed for the election will again do the bidding of the APC by rigging their unpopular candidate into office once again.”
“Any attempt to again deny the governorship candidate of the PDP, Ademola Adeleke, his deserved victory this time around would be fiercely resisted by Nigerians in general and Osun people in particular.
“It clear that Governor Gboyega Oyetola and candidate of the APC has woefully underperformed in the last three and half years and Osun people are eager to elect a Adeleke who is out to wipe their tears and genuinely work to develop the state,” he said.
He called on the United States of America, United Kingdom and other leading members of the international community to help entrench democratic culture in the country by ensuring that any government or security official caught aiding and abetting rigging or vote buying are blacklisted and denied visa.
