APGA Primary: Oyi stakeholders protest results manipulation, demand Soludo’s intervention
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Some members of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in Oyi Local Government Area of Anambra state on Friday protested alleged fraudulent subversion of the results of the May 23 primary for the Oyi Constituency seat.
The protesters who bore placards with varying inscriptions accused certain government officials and party bigwigs of masterminding the fraud.
Some of the placards read, “Restore the people’s mandate”, “Restore, Ojicam the genuine winner”, “Soludo, hear the cry of Oyi people, “Protect APGA’s integrity”, “Oyi mandate can’t be stolen”, among others.
The party stakeholders who marched from Alex Ekwueme Square, Awka to the government house, also known as Light House, called on Governor Chukwuma Soludo to intervene and restore the stolen mandate of the true winner of the election.
Speaking on behalf of the protesters,
State Auditor, APGA, Mr Uchenna Oraegbunam stressed the need for the will of the people to prevail, especially in view of efforts party faithfuls to win elections in the area.
He said, “On May 23, the party had its primary election for Oyi State Constituency, under a peaceful environment at Nteje Community, Ward 4, which is my own voting area.
“In that election, the sitting member representing Oyi State Constituency, Hon Innocent Ojike, scored 179 votes while another aspirant, Kosisochukwu Ibemesi, scored 45 votes.
“After the election, the result was declared at the Council hall of Oyi LGA headquarters, and Hon Ojike won, but two days after the announcement, an entirely different result was announced, declaring Ibemesi as the winner of the primary.
“We were shocked to see that they wrote 425 votes for Kosisochukwu Ibemesi, whereas the entire number of accredited voters for that election was 230.
“This is the same number of accredited persons for the Senate and House of Reps primaries conducted on the same day.
While insisting that the result later declared was not a true reflection of the vote cast by the Oyi people, Oraegbunam said APGA, as a progressive party, must protect its internal democracy from its destroyers.
“Our governor is doing well, but they lied to him. Anyone who is peddling the fake results should present evidence to support the results they declared.
“All we are asking the governor is to restore the people’s mandate. We have laboured a lot to make this party win elections in Nteje and Oyi LGA. Let the will of the people prevail,” he said.
Also speaking, a party stakeholder from Nteje Ward 5, Barr Innocent Ugwor, described the outcome of the poll as highly orchestrated electoral fraud.
He said, “Before the election, our national leader promised us a free, fair and credible process. We have every documentary evidence of the votes we got on the ground, as well as the procedures of the collation.
“Ojikam scored 318 votes in Nteje ward 5, while Kosisochukwu Ibemesi scored 136 votes. Meanwhile, only one electoral officer was present, who also signed the results sheet for the House of Assembly, Representatives and Senate.
“The results declared at the collation centre at the LG headquarters also reflected what transpired in the field. But a few days later, we learnt that in my ward, Kosisochukwu got over 400 votes, while Ojikam scored 90 votes.
“We’re here today to inform our dear governor that there’s a highly orchestrated electoral fraud that transpired in Oyi constituency. We are here to complain to him to remedy the situation.
“Our people stood under the sun to elect the party’s candidate, and after such toil, they want to subvert the will of the people. Someone even boasted that they have contact with the governor’s son. But we know the governor does not tolerate such.”
Responding, Deputy Chief of Staff to Mr Governor, Dr Okechi Vincent, assured the protesters that their message had been received and would be delivered accordingly.
He, however, expressed disappointment over the protest, which he described as unnecessary, saying two or three people would have been enough to deliver the message.
He said, “Governor believe that power belongs to the people and people should vote for their choices
“If you believe that the results were manipulated and did not favour you, what you should have done is to write to the party.
“Again, you should have written to the governor. He’s someone who listens to everyone. Since the primary started, he’s been addressing different aggrieved groups without taking sides.
“Currently, he’s in a retreat with his exco to make the state livable and prosperous, which will definitely favour all of us. But I assure you that the message will be delivered to him.”
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