By CHARLES IWUOHA

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Imo State chapter, has declared readiness to participate in the forthcoming local council polls slated for this Saturday, September 21, across the 27 LGAs in the State.

It, however, vowed to resist any rigging attempt by the ruling party, All Progressives Congress (APC).

In a press statement issued from the party?s publicity secretary, Lancelot Obiaku, he ejected what it described as a blatant disregard for its own guidelines by the Imo State Independent Electoral Commission (ISIEC) just four days before the proposed council election.

The party claimed that It is a clear indication of what he described as an unscrupulous plot by the Hope Uzodinma-led APC government to rig the election.

The publicity secretary of the party reaffirmed the party?s readiness to participate in the election but insisted that ISIEC must adhere to its own guidelines and conduct a credible local government election.

The statement further informed that the State Chairman of the party, Hon. Austin Nwachukwu, criticized ISIEC for not having published the list of voters in the wards as required by law, even with four days before the election alleging that instead, the commission invited the PDP?s Councillorship and Chairmanship candidates to its State headquarters, demanding N50,000 and N200,000, respectively.

?First, we want to categorically state that the PDP in Imo State is ready and prepared for the proposed local government elections in the State at any time or any day ISIEC chooses to conduct them.

?As a party, we have done our homework thoroughly. Our Chairmanship and Councilorship candidates enjoy widespread support from the electorate and are confident of victory. This is no secret,? he stated.

He alleged that the Uzodinma-led administration was so unpopular that it was nervous ahead of the council election in the very State it governs.

?Today, we wish to alert Nigerians, especially the people of Imo, to the illegalities and foul play being perpetrated by the Uzodinma administration and the electoral commission.

?The issues are these: In our last meeting with the leadership of ISIEC on August 8, 2024, the Chairman, Chief Charles Ejiogu, along with his full complement of Commissioners, informed stakeholders that he had been invited by the State?s security heads to discuss security concerns regarding the election.

?In that meeting, held in Oguta, the ISIEC Chairman told us that security chiefs had expressed doubts about the safety of lives and property on election day, especially given the recent violent attacks and security breaches that left no fewer than 20 innocent citizens dead and properties worth over 1 billion Naira destroyed,? he said.

PDP revealed that at the moment, the ISIEC Chairman has neither briefed the political parties on the outcome of his meeting with the State security heads nor provided any further information on the conduct of the election based on the discussions with the political parties.

?In that same meeting, we discussed the fees for DF001 and DF002 (for Chairmanship and Councillorship candidates), but no agreement was reached.

?We also talked about the recruitment of ad-hoc staff to ensure they are not card-carrying members of any political party, particularly the Returning and Collation Officers, to ensure fairness,? the release stated.

The publicity secretary further stated that the party did not reach any conclusion on the date or deadline for the submission of party agents? names to the commission, and ISIEC has since failed to reconvene with the parties to brief them on the issues.

?However, to our shock, on the night of September 16, 2024, we were alerted to a document circulating on social media, purportedly from ISIEC, signed by the Chairman, inviting candidates to its office on Orlu Road for validation.

?When we went to investigate this morning, we were surprised to find ISIEC was only demanding N50,000 from Councillorship candidates and N200,000 from Chairmanship candidates in place of the purported validation.

?We are appalled that ISIEC has yet to officially brief political parties as required by law or release any information regarding these matters.

?Where in the world does an electoral commission engage with candidates without involving the parties that nominated and sponsored them? This is illegal and has no basis in law. Even more troubling is that these actions violate ISIEC?s own guidelines.

?We want to inform the people of Imo and Nigerians at large that the State government and ISIEC are not prepared for the election ? they are only interested in rigging it. But Imo people will not allow this to happen.

?The government is known for falsifying results, hijacking electoral materials, violating electoral guidelines, and intimidating the people of Imo. But this time, it will not stand. Enough is enough.

?We wish to reiterate that while Imo PDP and its candidates are fully prepared and ready for the election, the APC and its leaders are working behind the scenes to rig it. All we are demanding is for ISIEC to follow its own guidelines and conduct a free, fair, and credible election.

?It is shocking that less than four days before the election, ISIEC has not published the names of the candidate and the voters at various wards.

?As a party, we have followed all the necessary processes for nominating our candidates in accordance with ISIEC?s guidelines and submitted their names to the commission in good time, meeting all the requirements set forth by the Electoral Act.

?We insist that the right thing must be done, and it must be done without further delay before the APC government sets the State on fire once again,? the PDP warned.

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