From George Onyejiuwa, Owerri
The leadership of Orlu Political Action Committee (OPAC) has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to cancel the Ngor-Okpala state constituency by-election held on 26 February over what it described as a massive electoral heist allegedly perpetrated by the appointees of the state governor, Hope Uzodinma with the collusion of security agents in the state.
They alleged that the plans by Governor Hope Uzodinma to destroy democracy in the state must be stopped, and called on the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to arrest all those who have been identified to be involved in the violence, hijacking of electoral materials and kidnapping of INEC officials during the by-election.
The group say that President Buhari owes the Imo people a duty to stop Uzodinma from destroying democracy in the state.
They said that President Buhari must therefore demonstrate that he never endorsed the unacceptable electoral fraud which Uzodinma and his agents carried out in Ngor-Okpala.
In a press statement issued on Thursday by Barr Nnamdi Maduka, the group’s publicity secretary said that what happened last Saturday 26 February 2022 in Ngor-Okpala was a sham and should not be allowed to stand.
The statement reads:
‘A state constituency by-election that was supposed to be seamless, peaceful, credible, transparent and hitch-free was then reduced to total warfare. Ballot boxes were wantonly snatched away by APC chieftains aided by truckloads of security operatives and militiamen, ad hoc officials of INEC were massively kidnapped and results written at private residences of Uzodinma’s appointees and in hotel rooms too. This is anomie of indescribable proportion.
‘We are therefore deeply troubled by the orgy of violence and electoral fraud in Ngor-Okpala, and we firmly believe that if that travesty is allowed to stand, the far-reaching implications will be costly and unhealthy for democracy in Nigeria at large.
‘As an immediate step to remedy the situation, we demand that INEC should outrightly cancel the Ngor-Okpala by-election within forty-eight hours. Failure to do this will be an invitation to mass outrage and overwhelming action by the people of Imo State.
‘We call on the Inspector General of Police to immediately arrest and prosecute all the agents, cronies, allies and henchmen of Uzodinma and chieftains of the APC who were caught in the very shameful abductions, shootings, mayhem and electoral fraud that marred the Ngor-Okpala by-election.
‘President Mohammadu Buhari should also call Hope Uzodinma to order. The impression Imo people get is that all the atrocities of Hope Uzodinma in Imo State go unpunished because of the cover which he gets from Aso Rock. The President owes Imo people a duty to stop Uzodinma from destroying democracy in the state. President Buhari must therefore demonstrate that he never endorsed the unacceptable electoral fraud which Uzodinma and his agents carried out in Ngor-Okpala.’