Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), yesterday, said the opposition of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the payment of N7 billion Value Added Tax (VAT) due to Bayelsa State is born out of the fear that they will lose the governorship election in the state.
The PDP National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, told Daily Sun in a telephone interview, that money is the legal entitlement of Bayelsa State and not a gift.
Ologbondiyan noted that it is clear to the APC that there is no way they can defeat the PDP in the poll, hence, the resort to “beggarly issues.”
He added that it is because the ruling party cannot find anything to de-market the PDP Bayelsa candidate, Diri Douye, that it is asking the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) to investigate him.
“They are scared of their loss. They have seen clearly that there is no way they can win the election. They are not saying the predecessor of our candidate did not perform. They have nothing to campaign with to de-market our candidate, that is why they have resorted to beggarly issues.
“The money they are talking about is not a gift. It is an entitlement of the state. It is not an election money. It is what the Federal Government is owing the state. So, they cannot demand that it should not be released. And by asking that the CCB should investigate our candidate, they are doing so out of the feeling that they have lost the election. Come November 16, they will lose the election,” the PDP spokesman stated.