Voter’s cards suspects to face trial

The suspects found with voter’s cards are to be charged to court today or tomorrow, The Nation learnt yesterday.
A Labour Party (LP) chieftain, Mr. Olaolu Oladapo and his wife were allegedly arrested with voter’s cards last Saturday. They were said to have claimed that they got them from INEC officials.
A source said an INEC official, who is suspected to be a guard may have been involved in the incident.
The couple was arrested by a team of policemen from the Area Commander’s office in Ondo town for having thumb printed ballot papers ahead of October 20 election.
More than 100,000 already thumb printed ballot papers in favour of LP were found in their possession.
Also found in their possession were 150,000 voter’s cards belonging to people across the 18 local government areas of the state.
A group on the platform of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), the Independent Campaign Network (ICN), yesterday challenged the Ondo State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Mr. Akin Orebiyi, to clear the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC’s) name over the arrest of the suspects.
A statement signed by ICN’s Director, Communication and Strategy Bureau, Mr. Bosun Oladimeji, alleged that some officials of the electoral body at the local level had compromised with the LP on how to rig the October 20 poll.
Oladimeji, who said he was not surprised by the arrest, stressed that they were aware of the plot by the LP governorship candidate, Olusegun Mimiko, to buy voter’s cards in the areas he believes he cannot win, at N20,000.
He urged the INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, to transfer the state REC if he fails to clarify the name of the electoral body in the ongoing election malpractices.
The statement reads: “We learnt from sources that a worker of the INEC has been arrested over the allegation of electoral fraud. We are still expecting Orebiyi to explain to us what he knows about this ongoing election fraud because we got from sources that the alleged INEC worker duplicated the key to the Ondo West Local Government Electoral Officer’s (EO’s) office and after he opened the door, he was able to lay hands on the unclaimed voter’s cards.
“INEC and Orebiyi must speak out on the alleged role played by the worker of the commission. Though Orebiyi, at several stakeholders’ meetings, had been presenting himself as an unbiased umpire, with the revelation, we do not trust him. Jega must transfer Orebiyi if he fails to explain the stand of the electoral body.

“ACN and other opposition parties have been raising the alarm over the relationship of the LP and some INEC officials. With this arrest, it is now clear that the LP conducted illegal voters registration and INEC was aware of this criminal activity. We will continue to reveal the illegal strategies of the present government to rig the poll.”