From Everest Ezihe, Owerri
Amidst suspense, fears and worries that the supplementary election for Mbaitoli / Ikeduru (Mbaike) Federal Constituency of Imo State scheduled this Saturday in some selected polling booths of the two council areas by Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC may be manipulated, Hon. Uche Ogbuagu, the candidate of Labour Party, LP in the State has petitioned the Inspector General of Police, Buba Alkali, the Chief Of Army Staff, Lucky Irabor, the National Security Adviser, the Director of the Department of Security Services and Assistant Inspector General of Police in charge of zone 9 in Umuahia, over the need to checkmate and beef up the supplementary election.
In a Press conference Ogbuagu hosted in his Akabo ancestral community in Ikeduru LGA of the State this Tuesday, he accused the candidate of All Progressives Congress, APC, Engr. Akarachi Amadi, his father and members of his campaign organisation of intimidating his supporters.
Ogbuagu who’s currently representing Ikeduru Local Government Area at the State House of Assembly, claimed that the APC candidate had intimidated voters during the first ballot on February 25 and had concluded plans to rig the supplementary election scheduled for this Saturday.
Displaying copies of the petitions, the LP candidate said that he was confident of victory if the supplementary election is conducted to be free, fair and credible.
It’s pertinent to recall that the LP candidate according to the State electoral umpire has 17, 000 votes from the first ballot while the APC candidate trials him on the second position with 12,000.
According to him“ the evidences before me prove that, there were colossal attempts made by some callous people to subvert the people’s will on the 25th of February, during the elections for the President and National Assemblies.
“Inspite of the monumental electoral fraud perpetrated on that day, I was comfortably leading with over 17,000 votes, while APC trailed behind with less than 12, 000 votes. INEC, eventually declared the election inconclusive since voting did not take place in certain polling booths and some were cancelled because of irregularities/ violence.
“It should be noted that so far, elections have been completed and announced in over 80 % of the polling booths that make up Mbaitoli and Ikeduru. One Prince Charlse Amadi, whose son is the APC candidate for Mbaitoli and Ikeduru federal constituency has been using thugs, armed men in various police and military uniforms and even those in mufti, but heavily armed to coerce and intimidate my people to vote against their conscience. At some booths, some people were beaten up and assaulted in my full glare. My uncles, old women, young pregnant and nursing mothers were beaten with several bodily injuries evident”.
Ogbuagu further observed that ‘in his( Amadi) home town Eziama – Ikeduru, this man, who prides himself as operational leader , even as he is not and has never occupied any known elective or appointive position, relocated booth 020 at Owuzor Hall to the residence of his errand boy, one Mr. Chuks Metu, where voting took place without the consent and approval of INEC.{Video evidence available}. He did the same thing at booth 021, Eke Amaehi, with a capacity of 1,382 votes, some of whom are fake and foreign names to Eziama people, he relocated same to his compound and perpetrated all kinds of irregularities.
“In this booth 1,382 voters were registered as copied by INEC ICT portal but for purposes of the rerun scheduled for March 11, 2023, this man and his evil cohorts, have falsified the figure to 10,382. I still doubt how a small polling unit in a remote village of Eziama Ikeduru can register even 1000 voters let alone 10, 283. In Eziama, there is a near zero presence of foreign elements, as all dwellers know each other by face and name.
Ogbuagu further pointed out that he wonders how the Police, Army, Civil Defence etc can attach over 25 of their men in uniform to a single man, who is neither an elected or appointed government functionary ? This he described as impunity.
He also expressed gratitude to all his brothers and sisters of Mbaitoli and Ikeduru extraction for the love, trust and confidence they have reposed in him, by allegedly voting overwhelmingly for him and other candidates of labour party during the last general elections.
The political icon enjoined the electroates to remain resolute and steadfast, and also continue to believe in him insisting that the best is yet to come.
Ogbuagu passionately advised them to vote for labour party candidates again on Saturday March 11, 2023 which he said will serve as a confirmation and eloquent testimony of the landslide victory the political party garnered during the Presidential and National Assembly elections.
When contacted, the spokesperson for the APC candidate, Darlington Irobi, said that the LP candidate was afraid of the supplementary election.
Irobi said that if there was any form of electoral malpractice on February 25, it was perpetrated by the LP candidate and supporters but not them.
