The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Imo state has described Saturday’s state constituency bye-election held in Ngor Okpala Council Area as a charade that cannot survive honest scrutiny.
This is also as the party described the conduct of Governor Hope Uzodinma and scores of his aides, as an assault on the integrity of the Amended Electoral Act.
The party urged INEC to take urgent steps in line with the electoral act, to arrest all those that contributed to the derailing of the Peaceful Ngor Okpala bye-election including the Speaker of the Imo State House of Assembly, the Imo state Commissioner of Police, APC House of Representatives members, House of Assembly members, LGA management chairmen, Commissioners and other aides of Governor Hope Uzodinma.
Addressing a press conference in his office in Owerri, the Imo state capital, the state chairman of PDP, Engr. Charles Ugwu lamented that the election was going on smoothly without incidents until it became obvious that the APC was losing in most places, the desperation drove the Governor and his aides to obstruct and hijack the process.
His words: “In the early hours of the election day, the people of Ngor Okpala had begun to turn out en masse to exercise their franchise and elect their representative in the Imo State House of Assembly. Unknown to them, Hope Uzodinma and his cohorts had covertly perfected an evil plot to prevent the people from exercising their constitutional mandate.
“On the eve of the election, Hope Uzodinma personally mobilized truckloads of security agencies – police, DSS, Navy, Airforce armed thugs and his personal strike force (Hopism Strike Force) to invade Ngor Okpala LGA and unleashed mayhem on the electorate. These armed groups operated freely, maiming, shooting sporadically, abducted staff of INEC and agents of the PDP, carted away electoral materials and result sheets. It was a clear case of declaration of war on the people of Ngor Okpala, a total invasion in one of the freest and fairest elections in the history of the Local Government.”
Lamenting the clear partisan stance of the Imo State Commissioner of Police who has been a know ally of Uzodinma, Engr. Ugwu said:
“It is pressing to highlight and roundly condemn the partisan and complicit actions of the soon-to-retire Imo State Commissioner of Police, Hussain Rabiu, a known accomplice of Hope Uzodinma. Rabiu led the combined teams of armed thugs, security operatives and Uzodinma’s Hopism Strike Force that also provided cover for appointees of Uzodinma, members of the Imo State House of Assembly and members of House of Representatives of APC, who invaded polling units in most parts of the Constituency leaving many half-dead in the pool of their own blood.
“CP Rabiu also aided in the illegal coercion of collation officers at private residences and the Sentiero Hotel located along the Airport Road.”
The PDP noted that the hijack and truncation of the election was widespread and as such has discredited the election.
He said: “In over fifty polling units, out of 193 Polling Units, electoral materials were forcefully carted away with INEC ad hoc staff taken to Sentiero Hotel along the Sam Mbakwe Airport Road to thumbprint ballot papers and write results in favour of the APC.
“A few of the areas affected by this electoral fraud include:
Ward 1 —008 & 016, Ward 2 —015, Ward 3— 002, Ward 4— 005 and 010. Also Ward 5 – 002, 006, 011, Ward 6— 001, 003, 007, 008,009, 011, Ward 8— 004, 005, 006, 007, 008, 009, 011 and Ward 11—002, 004, 010 & 012 and many others.
The PDP further bemoaned what it described as “massive, unimaginable intimidation of voters in all the booths across the 11 wards of Ngor Okpalla using uniformed policemen attached to the Speaker of the o House of Assembly and his colleagues who beat up opposition party men and party agents, chased them away and openly engaged in vote buying and inducement contrary to sections 128 (a&b) of the newly signed Electoral Act.”
Engr Ugwu stressed the party’s concerns saying, “It is important that Nigerians note the unabetting impunity perpetrated by Hope Uzodinma, the illegitimate occupier of Douglas House. It is on record that Uzodinma has in his criminal desperation to assume power in the state, inflicted a very deep cut on our democracy. This time, his antics will fail. This new low, has made it incontrovertible that democracy is imperilled in Imo State, and this cannot be allowed to happen.”
The PDP therefore called on INEC to outrightly cancel the Saturday, February 26, 2022 bye-election in Ngor Okpala and order an immediate recount of ALL the materials and votes and reconcile them with the BVAS data.
The party demanded guarantees from the Commission, while mandating it to direct its HOD Ops Fidelis Uguru to ensure the security and safety of all the materials and data deployed in the Ngor Okpala bye election to ensure a thorough recount as any story of loss of material or destruction of materials will prove ongoing suspicions of compromise by the commission.
