. . . Calls for investigation of Ikpeazu over invasion of Obingwa collation centre

By MATTEHW KALU

A political pressure group has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to save Abia from sliding into calamity by declaring the Governorship Candidate of Labour Party (LP), Alex Otti, as the winner of the March 18, 2023 governorship election in Abia State.

The group operating under the aegis of Coalition of Abia Patriots and Youth Leaders during a Press Conference in Umuahia on Tuesday, March 22, 2023, also called for the investigation of Abia State Governor for allegedly invading the INEC office in Obingwa and holding the staff hostage for 24 hours while collation of the gubernatorial election result in the area was in progress.

The group urged the INEC to discountenance the governorship result from Obingwa being paraded by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), describing it as a product of criminal juggling of figures by the ruling party in the state.

Collation of the governorship election result in Abia has been stalemated following the alleged return of highly controversial figures from the area.

INEC had to postpone collation of Obingwa governorship result on Monday, March 21, 2023; till Tuesday, March 22, 2023, saying that the Commission would send its National Commissioner from Abuja to Abia to review the Obingwa result and conclude the election process and thereafter finally declare the result.

But in a new twist, INEC was said to have ordered its officials from Abia to proceed to its national headquarters in Abuja on Tuesday, with all relevant staff and materials for the review of the Abia guber result to be carried out in Abuja. The result of the Abuja trip is anxiously being awaited in Abia.

But before suspension of collation of the Abia guber election result, INEC had announced results from 16 of the 17 local government areas of Abia State, leaving the Obingwa result as the only one outstanding.

The result showed that Otti of Labour Party had won in 10 of the local government areas already announced, with the PDP trailing behind with five local governments in its kitty.

The total figure so far collated showed that Otti was leading PDP with over 94, 000 votes.

Based on the foregoing, the Coalition of Abia Patriots and Youths Leaders demanded that INEC should declare Otti as the winner of the governorship election in Abia.

“This Coalition is making a simple demand - declare Dr. Alex Otti the winner of the said election and save the fragile peace of the state,” said Ubani Dannie, who spoke on behalf of the Conveners of Coalition of Abia Patriots and Youth Leaders.

The group argued that the 110,211 votes being bandied about as the returned total number of votes from Obingwa was criminally juggled from out of the moon, revealing that the total number of accredited voters for the governorship and House of Assembly poll in Obingwa was 27,920. The group described the manipulation of the Obingwa votes as crazy.

“For the records, there is a total of 157,390 registered voters in Obingwa. During the presidential election, Obingwa recorded a total of 26,998 votes, and a total of 25,963 in the Senatorial election which is 17.29% and 16.5% respectively. All these figures were all accredited with BVAS.

“The above statistical realities stand to question and also prove as fabricated abnormality the mind-blowing figures springing from Obingwa in the just concluded gubernatorial election.

“For the records, the following facts suffice: Both the governorship and state assembly election held on the same day and time, by the same staff, using the same BVAS machine for accreditation as stipulated by law.

“The same accreditation process and record used for the House of Assembly election were equally the same that were used for the Governorship election. There were no two or separate accreditations for two elections.

“INEC has since announced the results of the House of Assembly elections of the two constituencies of the same Obingwa with the following figures: Obingwa East - 11,115 Votes; Obingwa West -16,807 Votes

“This gives us a total of 27,920 as the number of valid votes. Statistically, this gives us 17.7% of the registered voters.

“Therefore, the stalemate and unnecessary overheating of the Abia environment occasioned by the joggling of figures by the political overlords of Obingwa is most unfortunate.

“It is bizarre, primitive and incredible for anyone in his right senses to start contemplating assaulting the sensibilities of Abias and indeed Nigerians by manipulating the results of Obingwa to the crazy point of coming up with 110,211 votes, (that is 70% of registered voters) as the result of PDP in the said governorship election,” the Abia Patriots contended.

“The PDP power barons should embrace the realities of the new electoral system as revolutionized by the introduction of BVAS. Abians have spoken and they spoke loudly and clearly. Dr. Alex Otti is their new governor. All and sundry should respect this reality.

“Even if all the accredited votes of 27,920 votes are given to PDP, Dr. Alex Otti of the Labour Party would still be leading with more than 26,000 votes.

“Therefore, there is no justifiable reason why Dr. Alex Otti should not be declared as the winner of the said election now.

“Abia, our dearly blessed but badly raped state, is tethering at the brink of a heinous conflagration which can only be extinguished by doing the right thing. Emotions are already running amok. This danger should be averted now. The peoples’ patience should not be mistaken for cowardice,” the group added.

The group blamed the state Governor for the stalemate surrounding the Obingwa votes, alleging that he invaded the Obingwa INEC office and held the staff hostage for about 24 hours because of his alleged desire to install his successor.

“We condemn in totality and in very clear terms, the desperation of the outgoing governor to install a puppet godson as a successor.

“It is such desperation that forced him into storming the collation center of INEC in his Obingwa LGA, in a Gestapo style, and taking the staff of INEC hostage for 24 hours.

“It took an official statement from INEC for the military to intervene by evacuating the hostage victims to safety in Umuahia. The Police and such other relevant security agencies should start investigating Governor Ikpeazu for the crime of kidnapping/hostage taking with a view of prosecuting him after May 29th, 2023 when his immunity would have expired,” the group demanded.

They further argued that INEC accepting the Obingwa result amount to repudiating the social contract hundreds of thousands of Abians entered into with Otti on March 18 which should be respected as “inviolable and sacrosanct.”

“A situation where a clique of power-intoxicated ticks constitute themselves as power barons who must lord themselves over the rest of Abians by manipulating and joggling election figures at their whims and caprices is not only undemocratic but very criminal and highly invidious,” the group insisted.

•Conveners of Abia Patriots and Youth Leaders. Second from right is Ubani Dannie, Spokesperson of the group, flanked by others

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