The people of
Isuikwuato Local Government Area, in Abia North Senatorial Zone have
appealed to the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the
state, not to substitute the winner of yesterday’s primary, Mr Bonny Ikwuegbu
with any other candidate, in order to
maintain peace and order. Meanwhile, there is palpable fear,
apprehension and uncertainty over
alleged plan by a group to
substitute the winner of the
primary with the loser.
Most of the
people who spoke to Daily Sun under condition of anonymity expressed sadness
over this development but vowed to fight it with the last drop of their blood
if such a thing happens.
Speaking to
Daily Sun, an Isuikwuato indigene, who gave his name as Edward Okorie said his
people know those who are plotting to
upturn the peaceful exercise to their own selfish desires.
“ Time when
people allow impunity in Isuikwuato
election is over, our people are apprehensive over this development. What we
are asking the party is to do the right
thing, they shouldn’t subvert the
wish of the people.
“They should
release the result of the primaries to the winner whom we already know, because
if they had wanted to select, they should have done so from the beginning
instead of subjecting popular candidates to rigorous expenses only to take it
from them and give it to an unpopular candidate whom the people did not vote
for,” he said.
Another
candidate who spoke under anonymity said: “Since they allowed people to canvass
for support and they did and people came
out to show their choice, they should respect the wish of the people. If this is not done, no one can predict what
the outcome will be, there could be protest,
chaos and even anarchy. The people have chosen the person they would
want to lead them.”
“ And it will
not give government credibility as a system that respects the wish of her
citizens. It would not be good that an exercise of this nature was peacefully
conducted by the people and some strange fellow is imposed on them, Government
should take note of that “, he advised.
However, a
Local Government Source told Daily Sun that Chmezie Armstrong , a one time
Chairman of Isialangwa North LGA was sent to conduct the primaries and he
conducted it peacefully to the delight of all who attended, including all the
past Chairmen of the Council.
“After the
accreditation which was done at the gate, everybody came in and sat down. The
ballot box was brought and shown to
everybody to see that it was empty. The
voting material s were distributed and all the three contestants s were
represented by their agents. The exercise went smoothly as all the delegates
wrote the names of their choice candidates and voted accordingly. There was no
problems. After that the result was counted and was Ikwuegbu Bonny emerged as
the winner by scoring 79 votes, followed by Nnamdi Udeze who scored 17 votes
and Pius Okoma scored 10 votes. The whole thing was recorded at the Chairman’s
office, where papers were signed and
everybody left peacefully. There was no dispute or argument with anyone, it was
a smooth and peaceful exercise.
But this
morning we started getting phones calls from different places that PDP had
concluded plans to substitute the winner with the looser and we are saying no
to the effrontery . The information has been making rounds at Isuikwuato and
everybody is patiently waiting and what we are urging them is to do the right
thing. Any attempt to announce another person who is not the winner will
definitely spell doom for some people in this LGA, he warned.
Meanwhile, the
state Governor, Dr Okezie Ikpeazu has said that he he did not endorse any aspirant, as there was no reason for such.
In a statement
he issued through his CPS, Mr Enyinnaya Appolos, the Governor said that any claim to such endorsement is false.
He said that
he will only endorse dully nominated party candidates presented by the PDP. as
he is bent on providing a level playing
ground for all participants in the elections.
He assured all
Abians to do everything in his power to ensure the conduct of a free and fair
local government poll on the 17th of December 2016.END
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