Secret Reporters No place to hide
The campaign organization of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) governorship candidate for next month’s general elections in Abia State, Dr. Alex Otti, has debunked media reports making the rounds in the State and its environs to the effect that agents and volunteers of the campaign have been involved in purchase of voters’ cards from eligible voters ahead of the February polls. The Otti campaign organization regarded the stories as “malicious, puerile and in bad taste” especially since they were emanating from the studios of Government run Broadcasting Corporation of Abia (BCA) State.
“In our goal to reach voters and campaign on the ground as widely as is possible and permissible, our campaign organization has been embarking on door-to-door initiatives across the State since Otti emerged as the authentic APGA flag bearer for the elections. Our volunteers and agents undertake this task daily in the scorching sun because we believe in the power and supremacy of the voters who will decide the outcome of elections. We were therefore taken aback to hear on the State run BCA that our campaign team has been on a mission to purchase voters’ cards. We consider this allegation not only befuddling but malicious and in bad taste”, the Otti campaign organization said.
The Otti campaign organization also wondered why anyone will be purchasing voters’ cards in an era when the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has tightened security and technological measures around its portal and cards; which makes cloning doubly difficult and near impossible.
“We are amazed that the PDP will even bandy this allegation on air given that it sounds puerile, ludicrous and hollow to the discerning mind. How do we even begin to purchase cards when the ‘INEC reader’ will be used to authenticate all cards? Why should we even be purchasing cards in broad day light and in the full glare of the public? While we campaign and win over new voters through our novel door-to-door initiative, the PDP and its candidate sit in a corner of Abia to cook up stories in a bid to cast aspersions on our efforts because they are scared stiff and because all they want to do is rig the votes on Election Day—an act they have perfected over the years. This is beyond the pale and distasteful”, the Otti campaign organization added.
The campaign organization of the APGA candidate also noted that it is understandable that the “PDP which has run Abia State aground all these years” is quite ashamed of hitting the streets to campaign for its governorship candidate because prospective voters wouldn’t even grant them as much as a listening ear.
“They are jittery and we are not unmindful of that; especially after all the incalculable damage they have wrought in the State all these years. They know the game has changed with Otti’s entrance into the contest and they are quite aware that their candidate is a hard sell and a bad product who is derided on the streets of Abia and who had to duck from torrents of sachet water hurled at him during a recent public outing. But the PDP and its agents can do better than mudslinging and campaigns of calumnies before they are handed a shellacking at the ballot next month”, the Otti campaign organization added.
