By PETER OKOLIE

Hundreds of youths from Ohaji/Egbema Local Government Area of Imo, on Thursday, stormed the state’s Government House, Owerri, to demand a transparent, fair and credible chairmanship election in the area.

The protesters kicked against any attempt by anybody in the area to subvert the popular wish of the electorate in the upcoming poll and vowed to resist it.

They alleged that there was a plot to manipulate the outcome of the chairmanship poll in favour of a particular candidate.

They accused a former Minister of State for Education from the area, Mr Goodluck Opiah, of being the mastermind of the plot.

The leader of the protesting youths, Mr Lucky Onyiri, told newsmen that “the people of Awarra Court Area are sick of Opiah’s undue interference in our activities”.

Onyiri claimed that Opiah was conniving with the current Sole Administrator of the LGA, Chief Princewill Onyeaju, “to impose an unpopular candidate on the people”.

According to him, the good people of Awarra Court Area are carrying out this mass protest because we know that the former minister wants to control the area due to its rich oil and gas deposits.

“Opiah tried to manipulate the chairmanship election, which was earlier zoned to Awarra Court Area by Chief Charles Orie and other stakeholders of Ohaji/Egbema, including Prof. Vitalis Nwulu.

“He manipulated the newly appointed sole administrator to appoint new President Generals without proper consultation because he wants to control the oil and gas business in Ohaji/Egbema.

“Our protest is a strong warning to the leaders to stay away from trying to manipulate the process and instigating crisis in Ohaji/Egbema in the face of severe insecurity,” Onyiri said.

He appealed to Gov. Hope Uzodinma to sack the sole administrator and also stop Opiah and Onyeaju from unduly interfering in the election.

The protesters carried placards with different inscriptions, such as “The people’s Gov. should remove Onyeaju as Sole Administrator of Ohaji Egbema LGA.”

Others read, “Abacheke in Ohaji Egbema is on fire because of Opiah”.

“Opiah should steer clear of Ohaji Egbema,” and “Opiah should go and make peace in his community, Abacheke,” among others.

Receiving the protesters at the Government House, the Chief of Staff to the Governor, Mr Nnamdi Anyaehie, assured them that the State Government would respond positively to their demands.

In a reaction, Opiah described the allegation by the protesters as “mischief”.

He said, “As a member of the All Progressives Congress, zoning of party offices is a party affair.”

He further said that since 1999, elective positions in the area had usually been shared between Ohaji and Egbema districts.

According to him, when an Ohaji man occupies the House of Assembly, the Egbama man occupies the LGA.

“So, if it is zoned to Ohaji, the three zones in Ohaji will have to decide and if it is zoned to Egbema, the three zones in Egbema will equally have to decide where the candidate emerges from.

“There is no issue of marginalisation because at one point or the other, each of the three zones in Ohaji and Egbema has always produced one person or the other for elective positions.

“This is democracy, where nobody lords his opinion over the other person.

“There is no high handedness, no imposition and there is no cause for alarm,” the erstwhile minister said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Imo Government recently fixed September 21 for the LG polls. (NAN)

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