A frontline aspirant for the governorship ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party in Bayelsa State, Timi Alaibe, has denied claims by the leadership of the party in the state that he has been sending fake bank alerts to delegates to buy their votes.
Alaibe, in a statement by his campaign team on Sunday, said the accusation was contained in a press release by the Chairman of the PDP in the state, Chief Cleopas Moses.
The campaign team said Alaibe and another aspirant, Kenebi Okoko, were accused of engaging in the act.
Reacting to the development, the Administrative Secretary of Alaibe Campaign Organisation, Prof. Seiyefa Brisibe, said: “We have been informed of a damning statement issued today by the Bayelsa State Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Chief Cleopas Moses, to the effect that our Principal, Chief Ndutimi Alaibe and another aspirant, Kenebi Okoko, were sending fake bank alerts to some delegates in a bid to buy their votes in the forth-coming primary election of the PDP.
“As a campaign organisation, we find it difficult to believe that this extremely criminal allegation is coming from the chairman of PDP in Bayelsa State. We assume that there is a mistake somewhere. How would any reasonable person wake up to utter this kind of evil allegation against responsible fellow human beings?
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“While we allow our lawyers to study the legal implications of this obviously irresponsible and careless allegation, we need to state that there is no truth in it whatsoever. The burden is on those making the allegation to provide evidence when the time comes.
“We believe this is dirty politics taken too far. Someone does not need to go to this extreme just to win an election. This allegation is an equivalent of bloodshed for the sake of politics and must not be ignored by those whose responsibility it is to ensure that it doesn’t happen.
“We had promised from the beginning to run a decent campaign for this race. And we have not deviated from that promise. We have been irresponsibly attacked and rubbished. But we choose to keep our sanity by focusing on the campaign and not allowing anybody to distract us. We believe that politics is a game of superior ideas and not a-do-or-die affair.
“Our Principal has been called names. His reputation has dragged in the mud by those who are bent on scoring cheap political points. Issues bordering on terrorism have been raised against him. And today, he is being accused of engaging in acts that violate both local and international laws. His silence has been misconstrued as weakness and a victory for those on the offensive.
“Let it be clear to whoever is behind this gutter politics that Timi Alaibe has an impeccable reputation both in private and public service. Accusing him of a criminal activity as though it were a child’s play is unacceptable and is not going to be ignored. He has a name to protect and will not allow anybody to soil that name. The law must take its course. This is a deliberate falsehood that must be challenged.” [THE EAGLE ONLINE]
