The All Progressives Congress, APC, in Oyo State has threatened that it will withdraw its candidates in the forthcoming local government election in the state if the electoral body failed to use Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) for the poll.
DAILY POST reports that Oyo State Independent Electoral Commission, OYSIEC, has fixed Saturday 27th April 2024 as the date for the local government election in the state.
The election is to be conducted in all the 33 local government areas.
The APC made the threat in a statement signed by its Publicity Secretary, Wasiu Olawale Sadare.
The party, in the statement made available to DAILY POST on Sunday, expressed concerns over what it described as “game of deceit being played by OYSIEC”.
The statement alleged that the APC has observed that the chairman of the electoral commission may not be able to be fair to all parties contesting the election.
The party stressed that it would not be a party to any sham or charade.
“We have watched with dismay the lip service being paid, by OYSIEC, to the issue of BVAS required for the smooth conduct of the poll.
“The Commission is apparently under pressure to jettison the usage of BVAS because the ruling PDP is averse to it even as the powers-that-be in the state are prepared to compromise the April poll in their bid to ensure all the candidates of the PDP win at all cost.
“As a matter of fact, we have observed that the Chairman of OYSIEC might not be able to be fair to all parties as he is wont to do for obvious reasons. The fact that the PDP elements are averse to BVAS is responsible for the failure of OYSIEC to announce to the world that the machines would be used for the election.
“At this juncture, we are stating it categorically that Oyo APC would not be a party to any sham or charade and should the election body fail to guarantee the usage of BVAS for the April poll, they should count us out,” the statement said.
