Ahead of Saturday’s governorship election in Bayelsa State, the Peoples Democratic Party Governors Forum, (PDPGF) has alleged that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) was plotting to rig the poll using cloned Permanent Voter Cards, (PVCs) and fake security agents.

The PDP Governors Forum in a statement issued in Abuja by its Director General, Earl Osaro Onaiwu, said it was aware that the ruling party had brought in Information Technology experts of Indian nationality to effect the PVCs’ cloning in order to circumvent the electoral process in Bayelsa State.

Onaiwu claimed that “ the Indians, numbering five, are lodged in a hotel owned by an APC chieftain in Port Harcourt, where the card cloning process was ongoing.

‘The APC is desperate to capture Bayelsa state as an oil-producing state which fits into the party’s inordinate ambition to take over all oil-producing states.

‘To achieve this dangerous plan, the APC brought in five Indians, all IT experts, to help them clone PVCs for the Bayelsa governorship election. We are raising this alarm so as to alert Nigerians, the INEC and the international community on the machinations of the APC against democracy and the right of the people to freely elect those that should govern them”.

The party further called on the INEC to demonstrate its independence and commitment to free, fair and credible election by being vigilant and ensure that “ it does not kowtow to the whims and caprices of the APC by ensuring that only authentic cards are used.’

The PDP Governors also alleged that part of the sinister plot of the APC was the procurement of police and military uniforms for agents of the party to wear on election day to achieve its plans to rig the poll.

The governors on the platform of the main opposition party urged the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Sunday Arase, the DSS and military authorities to guide against the infiltration of their ranks by fake personnel of the APC. ‘The Forum appeals to the Inspector General, DSS and military authorities to ensure that only real personnel are on the field on election day and not fake APC agents who are already kitted in police and military uniforms to rig the Bayelsa poll for the party.

‘It is important to remind the security agencies that their failure to check mate any perceived illegality by the APC will seriously undermine their integrity to safeguard the people and could seriously erode the people’s confidence in the ability of the various security organs to guarantee their safety,’ Onaiwu said.