Follow Us on Google
From Okey Sampson, Umuahia
A fake returning officer allegedly recruited by one of the governorship aspirants of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) was arrested in Bende Local Government Area with fake unfilled result sheets, an unauthorised APGA stamp and a stamp pad.
This is even as an attempt to hijack the three-man delegate election of APGA in Abia was equally yesterday aborted.
The suspect was reportedly handed over to the police and later detained at the Central Police Station, Umuahia.
Briefing journalists on the development, APGA Leader in the state and member representing Aba South state constituency, Hon Obinna Ichita, said the suspect and others were allegedly engaged by a desperate governorship aspirant who wanted to hijack the congress.
He vowed that nobody would be allowed to destroy APGA which they suffered so much to build.
The lawmaker said: “APGA believes in internal democracy that guarantees equal opportunity to all and cannot tolerate any form of impunity.”
“An incident occurred in Bende LGA where somebody was caught and he claimed that he was engaged by one of the governorship aspirants.
“He was arrested and handed over to the police. The situation would have caused a serious crisis but for my intervention as aggrieved party members wanted to lynch the suspect.
“You know the security situation in the land now particularly South East is such that no room should be given for escalation. People are growing impatient with the undemocratic process”.
The lawmaker said that the congress was successful and generally peaceful across the state except in a few wards where sponsored hoodlums attempted to hijack the process but were stoutly resisted by the party faithful.
The APGA Leader who said that impunity and other undemocratic tendencies common in other political parties would not be tolerated in APGA, warned desperate politicians in the party to have a rethink “as nobody will be allowed to convert APGA into personal estate”.
When contacted, the State Secretary of the party, Elder Sunday Onukwubiri, said that the name of the said suspect was not among the returning officers sent to conduct the exercise.
According to him, ward Chairmen and LGA party Chairmen are to serve as Returning officers in their wards and councils respectively, while the three-man Congress Committee from Abuja will serve as the Returning officers for the state.
He said that similar attempts were reported in a few wards but party members resisted the hired touts and they fled.
The party Scribe said that “APGA which has become the beautiful bride in Abia now cannot be allowed to be pocketed by any desperado”.
He said the party would ensure due process and internal democracy in the process that would produce its candidates for the 2023 elections.
Some party members accused some highly-placed chieftains of the party at the centre of conniving with the said aspirant to manipulate the congress in his favour but said they failed.
