In response to the alleged tampering with election results, the national leadership of the Labour Party (LP) on Sunday threatened to organize party supporters across the nation for a national protest.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is allegedly planning to rig the election results in the states of Abia and Enugu, according to a statement released in Abuja by the LP National Chairman, Julius Abure.
In an effort to tamper with the results of the governorship election, he claimed that PDP supporters in Abia held some INEC employees hostage in the state’s Obingwa local government area.
In an effort to overturn the victory of the Labour Party candidate, Alex Otti, in the Abia State governorship election that our candidate won, Abure said: “Today, we are again witnessing a situation where a sitting governor in Abia State is fully involved.
“The same situation is currently taking place in Enugu State, where Chijioke Edeoga of the Labour Party is currently leading in almost all of the local government areas that have been officially announced.
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“As we speak, Governor Ikpeazu and his cronies are holding INEC staff at the Obingwa Local Government hostage to rewrite the results that officials had already compiled, despite a directive from the election body asking their staff to travel to Umuahia to collate the results for the election, which is in favor of Labour’s Alex Otti.
“One robbery is too many. While Nigerians are yet to get over the ugly rape of a democratic process in last month’s presidential election by the ruling party at the center, the PDP has been found engaged in the most shameless manner and disregard for the rights of the citizens.
“We therefore request the Inspector-General of Police to step in and oversee the transfer of all election-related materials to Umuahia so that the integrity of the vote and the safety of the officials in charge can be ensured.
“Ikpeazu cannot rig a local election because he was defeated in the senatorial vote on February 25.
In a similar vein, Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, who suffered a crushing defeat in the Enugu North Senatorial zone in the most recent election, is currently faking the results from the zone with the assistance of some corrupt police and INEC officials in order to ensure that PDP is re-elected in the state against the will of the electorate.
“We believe in due process, but it seems this is taken for granted, so we have endured what no other political party in the country has endured in the last few weeks. However, we might not have much patience left.
“Let me make it clear right away that we will fight any effort made by the PDP in the states of Abia and Enugu to overturn our mandate.
It is important to remember that the PDP in both states had threatened opposition parties, specifically the Labour Party, after winning both states in the presidential election. The threat that the incumbent party was only interested in rigging elections is already materializing.
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“The Labour Party had carefully examined all violations, and we have vowed never once more to allow the usurpation of power through deceitful means as it was done in the past and merely demand that you go to court.
We will have no choice but to organize OBIdients across the nation to seize the streets across the length and breadth of the nation if this is not addressed.