The Imo West Senatorial District candidate of Labour Party, Chief Charles Ugochukwu Ahize-Chukwu, has rejected the outcome of last Saturday’s National Assembly elections in Orlu zone, citing flagrant display of brute force and use of state power to intimidate voters so as to manipulate the results in favour of his rival, Osita Izunaso of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Available information and video footages during last Saturday’s electoral exercise across the LGAs in Orlu senatorial zone provided evidence of obvious hijacking of electoral materials by alleged political thugs working for the Imo State government through her agents, as alleged results manipulation by INEC officials and some security agents became the order of the day.
It will be recalled that in some flashpoint LGAs in Orlu zone, where elections did not hold as a result of insecurity, results were allegedly written and awarded to Chief Osita Izunaso of the All Progressives Congress by the officials of Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, who were playing the script of the Imo State Governor, Senator Hope Uzodimma.
Reacting to the situation during a press briefing with the Nigerian Media: AIT, Channels Television, Arise TV, Radio Nigeria, 4th Estate Reporters, etc, the Labour Party Senatorial candidate, Chief Charles Ahize, on Sunday, noted that the entire voting process and eventual election result announcement in places like Oru East, Orsu, Oguta, etc, were manipulated as the results were also doctored and therefore, must not stand.
Calling on the Inspector General of Police, Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Ndi Orlu and the genera public, some chieftains of Labour Party in the area stated that: “Our attention has been drawn to the fraudulent manipulations of the electoral process, and invasion of numerous polling units by armed thugs of the APC in connivance with the electoral officials and security agents”.
In his own words, an obviously aggrieved Chief Charles Ahize stated below: “It’s easy to manipulate people, choke out results and answer the creator of highest fake results, fake documents and present to the world as genuine. But I, Charles Ahize, wouldn’t take that. I will fight with the last drop of my blood to reclaim my mandate…”
From Omuma to Oguta, down to Ohaji/Egbema, it was same heartbreaking feedback of election results manipulation by alleged hired APC political armed thugs with dangerous weapons roaming freely at the various polling units unchecked as security operatives deployed to these areas overlooked their nefarious activities.
The APC thugs reportedly roamed freely unchecked as they invaded various polling units across the 12 LGAs in the Imo West Senatorial District, scaring the electorate, destroying ballot boxes and carting away the BVAS in some cases alongside sensitive electoral materials to unknown destinations to declare fictitious results in favour of the APC.
Funny enough, a good number of voters were denied their rights to vote because some of the BVAS machines showed that they had been accredited. How? Who used their PVCs? Or were some of the BVAS machines preloaded? It’s also surprising too to see uploaded results generated from other areas and allocated to Orlu Senatorial zone, especially in the areas where elections did not take place.
However, these and more facts shall be presented in due time as Peter Obi and Labour Party confidently swept almost all the polling units across the 27 LGAs in Imo State.
*@Njoku Macdonald Obinna*