PDP Chairman in Ebonyi State Alleges Electoral Manipulation by APC and INEC in Governorship/House of Assembly Elections.
This post is a press briefing by the Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ebonyi State, Nigeria, on the outcome of the governorship/house of assembly elections held on March 18th, 2023. The Chairman, Barr. Ifeanyi Nworie, expresses the party’s dissatisfaction and disgust with the results of the election, which he describes as a “melodramatic replay” of the Presidential/National Assembly Election held on February 25th, 2023.
The PDP Chairman accuses the All Progressives Congress (APC) of collaborating with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to manipulate the election results, which he claims are spurious and do not reflect the true wishes of the people of Ebonyi State. He alleges that INEC did not perform its duties with patriotism and the high sense of responsibility expected of it.
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The Chairman further states that the APC resorted to electoral manipulations, violence, ki..llings, and the desecration of electoral rules to ensure victory. He cites two incidents of PDP supporters being killed by APC thugs in Ezza North LGA and Onicha Igboeze, respectively. He also accuses the APC of denying the opposition a level playing field by denying them campaign venues, generating and unleashing multiple modes of conflict and sporadic attacks, and perpetrating disruptions, violence, vandalism, snatching of electoral materials, voter intimidation and suppression, manipulations of results, and a plethora of fraudulent practices during the elections.
The PDP Chairman claims that the APC applied the services of the Ebubeagu security operatives, which transformed to Neighbourhood Watch, to oppress members of the opposition political parties in the state and intimidate voters on the election day. He states that the APC declared that it would take victory at the polls at all costs and largely executed their nefarious acts of threats, palpable dislocation of peace and security, and satiated the Ebonyi environment with a pall of fear.
The Chairman asserts that the 2023 governorship election in Ebonyi State was marred by irregularities, glaring cases of violent intimidation of the opposition, unlawful management and dispositions of the umpire that rendered them unacceptable and void as they lacked substantial compliance with the Electoral Act 2022, the electoral guidelines, and Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended. He adds that civil society groups and foreign observers have pointed out that the elections conducted in Ebonyi State were marred by irregularities and were not in consonance with the provisions of the Electoral Act.
In conclusion, the PDP Chairman states that the declaration of any other candidate instead of their candidate, Dr. Ifeanyi Chukwuma Odii, as the winner of the election is unacceptable to them, and they will do everything within the ambit of the law to reclaim the mandate. He calls on security agencies to release their supporters who were unlawfully arrested and harassed during and after the elections and to desist from further arrest and intimidation of their members in Ebonyi State.
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READ BELOW:
PRESS BRIEFING BY THE CHAIRMAN OF THE PEOPLES DEMOCRATIC PARTY (PDP), EBONYI STATE, BARR. IFEANYI NWORIE ON THE OUTCOME OF THE 18TH MARCH GOVERNORSHIP/HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS IN THE STATE ON THURSDAY 23 MARCH 2023.
It is my honour and privilege to welcome the members of the Fourth Estate of the Realm, the gentlemen of the Press to this Press Briefing. It has become expeditious for us as a party, the Peoples Democratic Party to formally make known our position on the vexatious, anomalous, and controvertible travesty called election that took place on18th of March 2023.
Gentlemen of the press, it is obvious that what happened on the 18th was a melodramatic replay of what happened during the Presidential/National Assembly Election of 25th February, 2023. We wish to hereby state categorically and unequivocally that the APC perfected a pre-determined charade in collaboration with INEC announced concocted results, which were absolutely condemnable and unacceptable to us.INEC never acquitted itself creditably with patriotism and the high sense of responsibility expected of it.
The people of Ebonyi State attest to the fact that there is a pall of gloom, disquiet and discontentment in the state since the release of the concocted results which the Independent National Electoral Commission in Ebonyi State manufactured to deny the PDP candidate his hard-earned victory following his very impressive showing due to his mass followership by Ebonyi people and his state-wide acceptability. They have murdered the sleep of Ebonyians, but the murderers will not sleep until they restore the people’s mandate to the legitimate owner.
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Consequently, it has become expedient for us to express our disgust, indignation, and dissatisfaction over the spurious manufacture of results that upturned the victory against our illustrious and promising candidate, Dr. Ifeanyi Chukwuma Odii. We unflinchingly state that our candidate was duly elected by a majority of the lawful votes cast in the election for the office of the Governor of Ebonyi State.
Our opponents in APC resorted to electoral manipulations, violence, killings, and the desecration of electoral rules. In Ezza North LGA, the Chairman of PDP in the Council Area was murdered by elements believed to be APC thugs on election day. The same thing happened in Onicha Igboeze, where a PDP agent was shot dead in similar circumstances.
We note that in the build up to the commencement of electioneering campaigns in the country, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) stripped the opposition of level playing field by denying them campaign venues, generated and unleashed multiple modes of conflict and sporadic attacks determinedly perpetrated to perfect disruptions, violence, vandalism, snatching of electoral materials, voter intimidation and suppression, manipulations of results and a plethora of fraudulent practices during the elections. The APC eminently applied the services of the Ebubeagu security operatives, which transformed to Neighbourhood Watch to oppress members of the opposition political parties in the state and intimidate voters on the election day.
The APC, which had ingloriously declared that it would take victory at the polls at all costs, largely and stridently executed their nefarious acts of threats, palpable dislocation of peace and security, and satiated the Ebonyi environment with a pall of fear. Notwithstanding, the All Progressives Congress’ declaration of readiness to take victory at all costs, disruption of the process, violence, killings, ballot box snatching, the people came out owing to their love for our candidate and gave his votes that ought to and should expressly give him victory. Eventually, the APC lived up to their declarations by ingloriously manipulating the results in their favour.
It is an established fact that electoral processes in other climes are endued with acclaimed standards that accord them acceptability. It naturally flows from actual occurrences of freedom from disenfranchisement, fairness, and credible outcomes devoid of doubts.
Incidentally but unfortunately, the gamut of the process, from the campaigns to the elections itself, was devoid of universally accepted standard and characterized by APC’s predilection for primitive characteristics and uncivil conducts and mannerisms, all of which are their patent aberrations and political tools devised to cow opposition to submission and to perpetuate their unpopular political influence in Ebonyi State.
In the light of the foregoing, the 2023 governorship election in Ebonyi State was marred by irregularities, glaring cases of violent intimidation of the opposition, unlawful management and dispositions of the umpire that rendered them unacceptable and void as it lacked substantial compliance with the Electoral Act 2022, the electoral guidelines and Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended.
The APC government had, on several occasions, threatened violence to Ebonyians, which they carried out during the conduct of the election.
Civil society groups and foreign observers have pointed out that the elections conducted in Ebonyi State were marred by irregularities, and we’re not in consonance with the provisions of the Electoral Act.
A large number of our supporters were unlawfully arrested by security agencies. Even our Party Stewarts, like Dr Paul Okorie, have been arrested on trumped-up charges and are continuously being harassed to date with the intention to put him behind the bar. We call on Security Agencies to release them immediately and unconditionally and desist from further arrest and intimidation of our members in Ebonyi State.
Arising from these monumental irregularities, we state that the declaration of any other candidate instead of Dr. Ifeanyi Chukwuma Odii is of no effect whatsoever. The results in our possession indicate otherwise.
We make it clear that we are absolutely determined to prove that, based on the valid votes cast at the Governorship election of 18th March 2023, the Dr Odii scored the highest number of votes cast at the election and not less than one-quarter of the votes cast at the election in each of at least two-thirds of all the local governments in the state. As such, he ought to be declared and returned as the winner of the governorship election.
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Unfortunately, for a morsel of bread, the INEC in its amoral, incongruous, and impropriet performance has demonstrated that it lacks the trust and confidence of the people by the declaration it has made. It has consequently inflicted on Ebonyi people a woeful exercise with regressive calamity worse than currently being experienced. This aberrant situation has undermined the desire of the people of Ebonyi State to break free from the developmental constriction that has manifested for almost eight years.
Similarly, Ebonyians’ desire the determination to divest from APC’s strangulation of democracy in Ebonyi State which is an invitation to anarchy, a deliberately apportioned impunity, poverty, hunger, subjugation, oppression, tyranny, violence, insecurity and enslavement which are the hallmark of governor Umahi’s misadventure in the state will be truncated if not arrested and restrained through the civilized mechanism.
Democracy is about the people and their willingness to go with anybody they have confidence in and gives the people the opportunity to freely choose people who will govern them. It does not limit anybody from contesting elections, and nobody has the legitimate authority to stop the electorate from voting for any candidate of their choice.
We urge the people of Ebonyi State to remain calm and be assured that the mandate they have given to Dr. Odii but was stolen will certainly be recovered. Our legal team has been adequately briefed, and nothing will deter us from retrieving the mandate.
Thank you for your audience, and remain blessed.
