Keyamo dismisses PDP’s allegation of attempt to influence presidential election petitions

Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo, has dismissed allegations by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of an alleged plan by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to influence the outcome of proceedings in the Presidential Election Petitions, over which hearings would begin on Monday in Abuja.

In a statement Sunday, Keyamo, who was the spokesman of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, described the allegations as “infantile, lacking in substance and devoid of proof.”

“The PDP’s Press Conference today (Sunday), making all sorts of allegations regarding an alleged plan by the APC to influence the outcome of the court’s proceedings in the Presidential Election Petitions over which hearings would begin tomorrow in Abuja is nothing but just hot air,” Keyamo said.

He further accused the PDP and the Labour Party of sponsoring surrogates to “speak out” against the outcome of the presidential elections, stating that it is contempt of court.

“PDP and its sister company, the LP have been the ones sponsoring surrogates to ‘speak out’ against the outcome of the largely free and fair 2023 presidential elections when their cases are still pending in court. That is contempt of court and we are within our rights to correct the wrong impressions about the elections being created before Nigerians and the international community,” he said.

He also accused the PDP and LP of issuing veiled threats to the judiciary and judicial officers, “either by themselves or through their surrogates, be they in religious circles or in civil society or the labour unions.”

“These Siamese twins of PDP and LP are the ones issuing veiled threats to our judiciary and judicial officers, either by themselves or through their surrogates, be they in religious circles or in civil society or the labour unions. So, by pretentiously raising this so-called alarm, they are playing a game of ‘reverse psychology’,” he said.

Keyamo also emphasized that the allegations made by the PDP are baseless and that INEC’s actions are not strange.

“In all the states where the PDP won and the LP also won (both Senate, governorship and the others), INEC have filed their responses in court defending those declarations of the winners as correct. To the uninformed, they should be alerted that it is the legal duty of INEC to stand by their declarations in court and what they are doing in the case of APC in the Presidential Election Petition is not strange,” Keyamo said.

He added that the PDP’s panic press conference was a clear attempt to play to the gallery, and urged Nigerians to dismiss the allegations.