The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has raised concerns over the upload of strange pictures, including emojis, foreigner photos, and non-human images, by the All Progressives Congress (APC) as its polling and collation agents for the September governorship election in Edo State.

This follows the failure of the APC to meet the deadline for uploading the names and data of its agents.

The PDP has warned INEC against allowing the APC to make alterations, citing potential manipulation. The PDP spokesman, Debo Ologunagba, stated that the APC’s actions aim to cause confusion, smuggle in thugs, and disrupt the poll.

The PDP claims the APC is not prepared for a democratic contest and relies on manipulation and lies.

Ologunagba said INEC should “firmly resist the plot by the APC to smuggle in unaccredited Polling and Collation Agents after the APC failed to meet the deadline” stipulated by the Electoral Act, 2022 and INEC Guidelines for the September 21, 2024 Governorship election in Edo State.

He said, “It is already public knowledge as posted on INEC’s Portal that the APC failed to upload its over 3000 Polling and Collation Agents with the required bio-data and cannot be allowed to submit any Polling and Collation Agent after the deadline for submission on July 30, 2024, as doing so would amount to rigging the process.”

He stressed that it is clear that the APC did not upload the required bio-data of Agents with the “sinister aim to cause confusion, smuggle in thugs masquerading as Agents to trigger crisis on election day and pave way for its planned manipulation and disruption of the poll having realised that it has no prospect of winning the election.

“Only this can explain why the APC fraudulently uploaded emojis, pictures of foreigners, social media pictures and non-human photos as Polling and Collation Agents, with the intention to use the same as placeholders for thugs imported from certain APC States.”

The PDP spokesman said it further confirmed PDP’s position that the APC and its “lacklustre candidate, Monday Okpebholo have never been prepared for any democratic contest in the Edo State Governorship election but only waiting to manipulate the election against the Will of the people of Edo State.”