The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) under the leadership of Sen. Ahmed Makarfi on Monday expressed worry over attempts to compromise the security apparatus of Edo State ahead of the gubernatorial polls, noting that the State Police Command is currently without a commissioner hours to the election.

It also declared that the early distribution of some non-sensitive electoral materials by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Edo State for the governorship polls, poses a threat to the conduct of free, fair and credible election.

The party that listed some of the materials to include electoral observer and monitor tags, alleged that some of these non-sensitive electoral materials were being cloned in the All Progressives Congress (APC) Situation Room in Benin City, the Edo State capital.

The party’s national spokesman, Prince Dayo Adeyeye, added that, “These materials are traditionally distributed the day before elections to prevent them from being cloned or copied by people keen to disrupt the electoral process.

“We are aware that some of these non-sensitive electoral materials are being presently cloned in the APC Situation Room in Benin City, with the aim of distributing same to thugs who will have right of free movement on Election Day and possibly disrupt elections in PDP’s strongholds.

“In addition, we are worried by the attempts to compromise the security apparatus of the state as evinced by the replacement of the commissioner of Police in Edo State , an unprecedented three times in the last three weeks. The State Police Command is currently without a commissioner less than 72 hours to the election.

“Yesterday evening, we received reports from reliable sources of the movement of hundreds of thugs in about 20 BRT buses into Benin City. These thugs have apparently been brought from other states to disrupt the election in the state.”