Date Published: 05/20/11

Group blames Inducement of Voters, FCT Minister, Others for PDP loss in Ekiti

More than three weeks after the April 26 National and State House of Assembly elections, a socio-political group in Ekiti State, The Ekiti Patriots (TEP) has laid the blames for the dismal performance of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the State on the doorsteps of the Minister of State for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Navy Captain Caleb Olubolade (rtd), inducement of voters with cash and violent acts perpetrated by the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).

The group made this known in a four-page report by its Coordinator, Comrade Ebenezer Olaleye and titled; “Why PDP lost NASS and House of Assembly polls in Ekiti” sent to the Acting National Chairman of the PDP and copied to former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and the National Security Adviser.

It said “the PDP lost the April 26, 2011 elections in Ekiti State as a result of both external and internal factors. That is poor election management/strategy by the party on one hand and use of money and violence by the ACN on the other.

“For instance, while the ACN reserved its funds for the election proper, the PDP (through the Hon. Minister of State for FCT) choose to throw its funds around as donation to traditional rulers and irrelevant groups in the State before the election.”

“The ruling ACN openly induced voters with cash ranging from N1, 000 to N5, 000 per voter. On the average, a sum of N300,000 was spent polling unit by the ACN,” the group said. The group also blamed security agents deployed in the State during the elections, accusing them of working for the ACN.

On the role played by the FCT minister, TEP said; “instead of making himself the rallying point of the party in the State, the Honourable Minister choose to raise his own team of loyalists, comprising mostly aggrieved members of the party that worked against the party in the 2007 general elections. It was this group that was at the vanguard of the agitation for the dissolution of the State Central Working Committee (CWC) and its replacement with a caretaker committee few weeks to the elections. Though this move did not succeed, but it had demoralising effects on the CWC members.”

The group went further to state that; “Before the presidential election, Captain Olubolade held campaign rallies in all the 16 local government areas in the State. This he did without the involvement of majority of the party leaders.

“During the rallies, the minister announced cash donations to the party youths, women, leaders and traditional rulers. On the average, N4 million cash was donated publicly in each of the local councils while average of N3 million went to traditional rulers in each of the councils. The minister even donated N5 million cash to a notable traditional ruler in the State. In all, not less than N100 million was given out by the minister without the consent of the party and its leaders. Funny enough, the fund independently expended by the minister was later discovered to be part of the logistics meant for the party.

“Logistics funds that ought to have been used for the elections were wasted with traditional rulers, who had no major role to play in the elections getting millions of naira as donations. Interestingly, PDP lost in all the towns where cash was donated to their traditional rulers.

“Party members, especially youths were also given the impression that; ‘If we could be given such an amount of money before the election, it will be naira rain on the election day.’ Some party agents even expected that they would get as much as N10, 000 each on Election Day only for them to be given N2, 000! Most of them easily compromised.”