Ekiti State governor, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, has accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) of connivance with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to rig the July 14 governorship election in the state.
He alleged that part of the plot is to use students of the Federal University, Oye- Ekiti (FUOYE) as INEC ad-hoc staff for the election, instead of youth corps members.
Fayose made the allegation in Ado-Ekiti on Friday, describing as unfortunate, President Muhammadu Buhari’s comment that the 2014 Ekiti governorship election has been characterised by ‘hanky-panky’.
He said he is not surprised because Buhari is no longer in touch with realities, and also not in charge of his own government.
He said the Vice Chancellor of FUOYE, Prof. Kayode Soremekun, is a card-carrying member of the APC and a close ally of the party’s candidate, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, accusing him of rigging elections in the past for the APC.
“The idea behind this plot is to recruit APC members from neighbouring states, arm them with FUOYE students identity cards and use them as INEC presiding and returning officers to perfect the planned rigging of the election. But this will fail,” he vowed.
Fayose added that President Buhari said categorically that Ekiti State must be taken by the APC at all cost.
“We are in possession of an internal memorandum from the office of the Dean of Students Affairs, FUOYE, seeking registration of students of the university as INEC presiding and returning officers for the election.
“As I speak, over 2,000 supposed FUOYE students have been registered; with a curious condition that they should provide Bank Account details of their close relations, apparently to avoid tracing any payment into their own accounts.
“The question is: with over 9,000 corps members in Ekiti, what is the need for FUOYE students in an election that is holding in less than 2,200 polling units? he asked.
But in his reaction, Prof Soremekun described the allegation as a blatant falsehood, saying he is not responsible for recruiting ad-hoc staff, but the INEC.