By Praise Chinecherem
Candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC) in the Anambra South Senatorial by-election, Azuka Okwuosa has rejected results of the senatorial elections held in seven local government areas in the zone last Saturday.
He alleged rigging and other electoral malpractices, describing the exercise as a “charade, a rape on the people’s mandate”, and nothing but an “embarrassment” to democracy.
Addressing newsmen in Oraifite, APC flagbearer accused All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) of using security operatives and some officials of Independent National Electoral Commission to allegedly sabotage the electoral process, insisting the exercise was “severe blow to the country’s democratic integrity”.
In the result announced by the INEC Returning Officer, Prof. Frank Ojiako, APGA’s Emmanuel Nwachukwu emerged winner with 90,408 votes to defeat the APC candidate, Okwuosa, who scored 19,847 votes and Donald Amamgbo of the African Democratic Congress, who got 2,889 votes.
He said, “Saturday’s election in all seven local government areas that made up Anambra South Senatorial district lacked integrity, competence, neutrality and moral standing.
” It should be rejected, and the results should not stand on moral grounds.
“What we witnessed was a total charade and a deliberate sabotage where government and APGA used state security apparatus of ‘Operation Udo-ga-chi’ and other state actors to create unfair advantage for themselves and rendered the entire process compromised.
“Even when the Nigerian Police banned Operation Udo-ga-chi from participating in the elections, they were all over the places harassing, intimidating and laying siege to voters.
“These were the same individuals that supposed to be protecting the people against kidnappers in a state where kidnappers and gunmen have been unleashing terror on the people.
“The people deserve elections that are free, fair, and credible and not exercises where the outcome is predetermined and compromised. Until our elections are adequately prepared for and conducted transparently, it will remain under siege.
“Saturday’s election took off as expected, and my party was coasting to victory when suddenly over 300 Operatives of Udo-ga-chi group, made up of people with questionable characters, started invading all seven LG across Anambra South Senatorial zone.”
Okwuosa also alleged that operation Udo-ga-chi laid siege to his residence and prevented him from casting vote, saying that he was lucky to have cast his vote before their arrival.
According to him, his political party highlighted the possibility of the incident before commencement of the election, noting that they were aware that APGA had made it clear that they would use all the state apparatus to intimidate and coax voters.
He said, “They blocked me with over 300 operatives of the Udo Gachi group, with a lot of miscreants covering their faces, wielding AK-47s with dangerous weapons like knives and axes. Everything was captured in CCTV.
“The Area Commander of Oraifite was assisted by the president-general of Oraifite Town Union, and also the local government Chairman of Ekwusigo and a House of Assembly member.
“They were all at the point of besieging my house and trying to destroy every property in my house. I never knew that the state governor would descend so low to collaborate with all these entities and a converged assemblage of miscreants and people of questionable character just to capture the by-elections.
“All the incidents are captured on camera. I had no doubt in my mind that I won the election. It is a serious concern that such a level of mayhem would happen in all seven local government areas simultaneously, including Orumba North and South LGAs, Aguata, Nnewi North and South LGAs, among others.
“I feel obliged to address members of the public through the media to know the situation. I urged my supporters to remain calm and asked them not to take the law into their own hands because the level of mayhem was unprecedented.
“I know that people have the right to defend themselves, but I thanked God for my prevailing over my supporters not to retaliate.
“Both the state governor and the system in the state under his care have failed. He has plugged the state into insecurity.
“The function of every state government is to protect the lives and properties of its citizens, but the Anambra State government under Prof. Chukwuma Soludo has failed to restore security and safety of lives and property as well as the economy of Ndi Anambra,” he added.
