From Paul Osuyi, Asaba
Delta State Government on Wednesday raised the alarm over alleged plots by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to use the military to compromise this Saturday’s Governorship and House of Assembly elections in the state.
Commissioner for Information, Mr. Charles Aniagwu, who raised the alarm in Asaba, said the plan was to militarise the state with a view to using the army officers to harass and intimidate voters.
Aniagwu however appealed to security agencies not to succumb to pressures by the APC to compromise the polls in Delta State.
“We also hear that, given their (APC) controversial victory at the center, Omo-Agege and the APC in Delta State are planning to deploy the military to militarize the elections in the strongholds of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) across the 25 Local Government Areas (LGAs) of the state to harass voters.
“We want to seize this opportunity to plead with the leadership of the military, the police, and the civil defense corps to caution all their men and personnel not to yield to the antics of this person who knows that he has lost the election and would want to harass innocent Deltans to achieve what he thought that they achieved in the presidential election,” he said.
Aniagwu further described rumours that the state government had sold its liaison office in Lagos as a cheap attempt by the opposition to blackmail the Governor Ifeanyi Okowa-led administration.
He explained that after a feasibility study on the property to maximize its value, the state government proposed restructuring the building using a public-private partnership arrangement.
According to him, the staff were only relocated to a temporary location for the purpose of restructuring after securing approval from the Lagos State Government for a 10-storey building of 60 luxury apartments.
He further dismissed claims circulating that the state government has borrowed N850 billion, stressing that the Okowa administration has been transparent and accountable to Deltans on how it accessed and expended funds for developmental purposes in the last eight years.
“I urge all Deltans to continue supporting the love, harmony, and unity that exist among the different ethnic groups in the state. The candidate of the PDP, Rt Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori, has been intentional about what he will do if allowed to pilot the affairs of the state.
“They (APC) are attacking Okowa because they know that his enviable track records are an advantage for Oborevwori. APC do not have what to build on because their abysmal performance at the federal is so disturbing, which is why they have continued to resort to blackmail and propaganda.
“For anybody to vote in favour of APC, such a fellow would invariably be subscribing to slavery. His (Omo-Agege) candidature is an existential threat to both democracy and the development trajectory that we have witnessed in the state,” Aniagwu declared.