Judex Okoro, Calabar

The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Campaign Council in Cross River has raised the alarm that the All Progressives Congress (APC) allegedly moved in the sum of N2.5bn into the state to buy votes during the presidential and National Assembly elections.

The Director-General of the Campaign Council in the state, Mr Efiok Cobham, who disclosed this in a statement issued in Calabar on Friday,  said the money was channeled to the state chapter of the APC through the Central Bank of Nigeria branch in Calabar, adding that it was intended to influence the outcome of tomorrow’s presidential and National Assembly elections in the state.

Cobham wondered why a party that preaches puritanism would turn around to pollute the political system by wooing the electorate with monetary rewards at this auspicious time.

He said: “It is now crystal clear to all that APC is fake, not on ground, desperate and afraid of defeat. APC is the opposite of what it pretends to be or how else can one describe a party that claims to be an agent of change and fighting corruption but is currently neck deep in monumental electoral thievery?”

While urging Cross Riverians not to mortgage their future and sell their birth right by accepting APC’s Greek gift, the party stated that Cross Riverians are politically sophisticated with high level of electoral education to enable them make a wise decision.

“Ignore the APC and its desperation; don’t allow them to pollute you. It is high time we reclaimed our country from these buccaneers,” the statement further stated.

The council also called on the leadership of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the state, which it said the APC seeks to compromise, allegedly using the slush fund, to resist any attempt to be bought and conscripted into an unholy alliance aimed at thwarting the will of the electorate.

Reacting, the Director-General of APC Campaign Organisation, Mr Maurice Effiwatt, said: “What is happening now is that PDP has already foreseen defeat and so it is a cry of a drowning man who knows his death is near.

“PDP is the ruling party in Cross River, and they have the resources and maybe they are already planning to rig. So they are just preempting themselves because the party is used to vote buying and carry-and-carry-run. Therefore, it is ludicrous to turn around and accuse us of what we know nothing about,” he stated.