Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said yesterday it will win all the supplementary elections scheduled for Saturday.
The polls are holding in Sokoto, Kano, Adamawa, Benue and Plateau State.
In statement by its spokesman, Mr Kola Ologbodiyan, PDP says the electorate will resist the alleged plans by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to manipulate the elections.
“It is ludicrous that the APC could seek to play the victim when all material facts have established that APC militarised, perpetuated violence and unleashed mayhem in the elections so far held,” the statement said.
PDP claimed that a United States (U.S.) States Department’s Bureau reports showed that state apparatus of power was used to intimidate and perpetrate electoral violence in favour of the government.
The statement reads: “PDP is, however, undeterred in our imminent victory in the March 23 supplementary elections.
“In Benue, it is clear that the people have rejected APC as clearly demonstrated even in the Presidential election. Benue state has always been home to PDP.
“It is incontestable that our party has the largest genuine followership in all the units, wards and local government areas of the state and as such, does not need any underhand measure to secure victory in any election in the state.
“Our winning lead of 81,000 votes were validly delivered at the polling units and that reality will humiliate APC as it cannot be subverted.
“Similarly, Rivers State is an impregnable home to PDP since 1999. The results of all the elections held in Rivers, including the House of Assembly, showed that PDP is in control of the state. Moreover, in Rivers, APC is a vicious interloper, which has been perpetuating violence as a means to subvert and truncate the electoral process since it has no candidate in the election.
“In Kano, the people of the state are known to be incorruptible and had always detested leaders who are corrupt and incompetent. They have always elected governors that are acceptable to the ordinary people.
“The incompetence of the Ganduje administration is therefore distasteful to the people and that is why they have collectively rejected APC and rally with PDP.
“In Bauchi, PDP has already been elected and this reality cannot be altered by APC. INEC had already established that APC compromised its official to declare Tafawa Balewa LGA as inconclusive and had restored the votes that were stolen by APC. It is imperative for APC to accept the fact that its bunch of broom has become famished.
“In Sokoto, the people have given us the mandate. The constitution provides for simple majority of votes. The declared results show that our candidate clearly won and that is why our candidate has been mandated to go to the court to seek interpretation of the section of the constitution that deals with the declaration of results.
“In Adamawa State, APC is merely hallucinating and seeking ways to subvert the process. Its despicable resort to using a person who did not participate in the election to seek to use the courts to ambush the election is disgraceful.
“However, INEC had since declared that it cannot be stopped from going ahead with the supplementary election where our party is already in good stead to coast to victory.”
The Nation