Ondo poll: IPAC tasks INEC, others on neutrality

• Olafeso warns against inducement
• PDP alleges plot to compromise election as Atiku backs Agboola

The Inter Party Advisory Council (IPAC) has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the police, and other security agencies to be neutral and impartial during the Ondo State gubernatorial election scheduled to Saturday, Novermber 16, 2024.

National Chairman of IPAC, Yusuf Dantalle, while appealing to the electoral body and the security agencies to ensure a level playing field for all political parties and candidates, stated that the neutrality of the institutions is imperative to promote and strengthen the country’s democracy.

Dantalle, who spoke in Akure, the state capital, during a stakeholders’ meeting and voter sensitisation ahead of the poll, said that the roles of INEC and security agencies were critical to maintain the trust and confidence of the electorate.

The IPAC Chairman, therefore, reiterated that election was not war but an exercise in a democracy, where leaders who would promote good governance, accountability, and development are chosen.

Meanwhile, Chairman, Agboola Ajayi Campaign Council, Eddy Olafeso, has urged voters to collect any form of inducement offered, and in turn vote against the party.

The PDP chieftain, while imploring the electorate to vote based on their conscience and take correct electoral decisions, said that only the PDP has the genuine capabilities to pull the state out of the current doldrums.

Olafeso, who spoke in Akure, the state capital, alleged that the APC-led government in the state had been hording the palliatives delivered to the state by the Federal Government to induce voters during the poll.

In another development, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ondo State chapter, has raised the alarm over plan to compromise the election.

The opposition party alleged that the chairman of the party, Ade Adetimehin, was behind the sinister move.

In a statement, yesterday, the Publicity Secretary of the PDP in the state, Kennedy Peretei, said that there was a grand plot by the APC chairman to present APC members per polling unit to INEC to serve as presiding officers and assistant presiding officers.

But the Publicity Secretary of the APC, Alex Kalejaye, while describing the allegation as false, said that the APC had no reason to take any improper actions to secure victory, emphasising that the party is focused on interfacing with the electorate through campaigns.

Meanwhile, former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has endorsed the PDP’s candidate, Agboola Ajayi.

Atiku, therefore, called on members in Ondo State to mobilise broad support to ensure the party’s victory.

The former Vice President, who made the appeal in a statement by his Media Adviser, Paul Ibe, in Abuja, yesterday, described Ajayi as a dedicated politician capable of leading the PDP to victory and improving the welfare of Ondo people.