The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Imo State chapter, has accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and security agencies of plotting to truncate democracy and plunge the state into anarchy.
The party in a world press conference held in Owerri Wednesday, through the State Publicity Secretary, Collins Opurozor demanded the immediate declaration of the Isu constituency result.
They recalled that in their last conference, they had highlighted many electoral malpractices which marred the March 18th House of Assembly elections in Imo state.
The Party spokesperson said that they used the interactions to expose the roles of some top INEC officials, security agencies and the amorphous Ebubeagu Militia who aided and abetted the mind-boggling crime perpetrated by the APC in Imo against the Nigerian state.
According to him, the party has further discovered that those same actors in the electoral fraud have remained unrepentant, unfazed and determined to truncate democracy and plunge the state into anarchy.
He said, “the situation with the withheld Isu constituency election result, which was incontrovertibly won by PDP, explains the embarrassing collusion of INEC in the tragedy that has befallen democracy in Imo state.
“Nigerians should note that of the 123 polling units in Isu LGA, 122 results have been successfully uploaded on the iREV, representing 99.19% of the total results.”
He said that the only result which was not transmitted came from Ekwe Ward 1, Booth 16, where APC thugs had made away with the BVAS adding that nevertheless, the result has been ready with them and available at the INEC office, Owerri.
Opurozor pointed out that in four other polling units where elections were disrupted by thugs because of the imminent loss of APC, the INEC Forms EC 40 G were duly signed by the POs, SPOs and the EO.
He said that in keeping with the provisions of the Electoral Act and the INEC Guidelines, the possibility of a rerun in those areas has been effectively foreclosed because this position has also been publicly affirmed by INEC.
The State Publicity Secretary said that the total results from the eleven electoral wards in Isu LGA as now fully published on the INEC Result Viewing Portal show that the PDP candidate, Hon. Modestus Abazie Osakwe, polled a total of 5,551 and won in six electoral wards to defeat the APC candidate who scored 4,954.
According to them, it is totally unacceptable that INEC in Imo State has refused to announce the result and declare their candidate the winner of the election.
He said: “Instead, top officials of the Commission have chosen to yield to the whims and caprices of the APC regime in the State to sit on the victory of our Party in the bid to devise ways to finally upturn it.”
The party inform Nigerians that both the INEC Returning Officer and some other officials involved in the Isu constituency election have severally been invited, harassed and intimidated by the police with a view to making them upturn the result in favour of the failed APC.
The party, therefore, called on the INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, to order the immediate declaration of the result of the Isu constituency election in Imo state.
They also urged the Commission to launch a painstaking investigation into the activities of its personnel in Imo and their roles in the widespread electoral fraud that defiled the 2023 elections at all levels in the state.
The party reiterated its call on the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to beam his searchlight on the Imo State Police Command to weed out the corrupt elements who have become willing tools for the enforcement of electoral crimes and implementation of sundry other dictatorial and fascist political agenda in the state.
READ ALSO FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
and then