Protest Rocks Owerri Over Poll Result
Protest Rocks Owerri Over Poll Result
Thousands of angry supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), on Monday, demonstrated against what they tagged `irregularities’ which they alleged marred April 11, governorship and state assembly elections in Imo State. Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared the governorship election in the state inconclusive after some wards and polling units were cancelled in 23 local government areas of the state. The demonstrators, mostly youths, and women blocked one lane of Okigwe Road, Owerri, directly in front of PDP state secretariat, carrying placards with various inscriptions. Some of the placards read; Okorocha Must Go. INEC Should Allow The Mandate of Emeka Ihedioha. Imo People Are Tired Of Okorocha’s Fraudulent System and PDP Is The Winner of April 11 Polls in Imo among others. The youths, who came from various parts of the state, said they were in Owerri to demonstrate against irregularities that characterized last Saturday polls. Spokesman of the group, who gave his name as Livinus Njoku, told journalists that the result of the election being announced by the INEC did not reflect the true results collated by parties that took part in the exercise.
According to him, “PDP’s candidate, Emeka Ihedioha won with a landslide. We institutionalized a mechanism to collate the results the way people voted, but that did not conform to what INEC announced from various local government areas which made them declare the election inconclusive”, he said. Njoku said it was surprised that rather than INEC to allow the Imo electorate to decide who governs them, its officials in the state decided to abridge the process by not only changing the figures, but as well declare the exercise inconclusive. He explained that the mission at the PDP office was to get go ahead order from the leadership of PDP before they could demonstrate to INEC state office and major streets in Owerri. Addressing the aggrieved protesters, the state chairman of PDP, Chief Nnamdi Anyaehie, regretted that APC supporters hijacked ballot boxes, snatched ballot papers and changed elections results from different locations across the state. He said the party got series of reports where APC supporters snatched ballot boxes, promoted violence and other sundry misconducts during the April 11 polls across Imo.
The PDP boss therefore called on the PDP supporters to be calm and act responsibly, noting that the PDP had raised a formal protest to INEC on the Irregularities that characterized the conduct of April 11 polls in the state. ` “All we are advising is that everybody should return to his or her home since PDP has already written a protest letter to INEC and we hope something will be done. “As responsible citizens, we don’t need to take laws into our hands, we must allow the law to take its course’’, he said. Although Anyaehie said that his party was yet to take position on the outcome of Imo governorship election, he prayed that the interlude provided by the commission would enable INEC to unravel series of fraud perpetrated by the APC as well as calm frayed nerves. Reacting however to the development, Director General of Rochas Okorocha Campaign Organisation, Mr. Iheukwumere Alaribe, dismissed the claim by PDP that INEC and APC manipulated the election results. Alaribe, who spoke at a press briefing, said “what PDP is doing is a mere pretentious claim; they are actually the party that promoted fraud during the elections on Saturday. “In Mbaise, for example, PDP governorship candidate did not score up to 200, 000 votes, but they engaged men from Aguleri who wore red uniforms to intimidate and harass people during the elections”, he alleged.
He also accused the INEC and security agencies of conniving to rig the election in favour of the PDP, accusing the state Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Gabriel Ada, of being a card carrying member of the PDP. “The REC is an interested party. That is why INEC was the greatest rival the APC had during the election. “But I want to tell you that both the INEC and PDP underestimated the popularity of Governor Rochas Okorocha. That is why the PDP youths are demonstrating against the INEC for failing to declare Ihedioha winner either by hook or crook”, he said. When contacted on the allegation that INEC compromised, Mr Elias Osim, Head Voter Education and Public Enlightenment, INEC, Owerri said that the commission would address press conference on the matter later in the week. “For now, I do not have the mandate to speak on that issue, the Resident Electoral Commissioner, Dr Gabriel Ada just left for Abuja and will address a press conference as soon as he returns on Wednesday”.
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