Ebonyi Labour Party Heads To Tribunal To Challenge Poll Results

Posted by African Examiner Featured, Latest Headlines, News From The State Wednesday, April 15th, 2015

FROM IGNATIUS OKPARA, Abakaliki – The Ebonyi State chapter of Labour Party, LP has expressed its resolve to challenge the outcomes of the March 28 and April 11,2015 National Assembly, Governorship and State House of Assembly election at the Tribunal.

It reiterated rejection of the results as announced by the Independent national Electoral Commission, (INEC).

The electoral commission had declared David Nweze Umahi of the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) and Deputy governor of the state as the duly elected candidate of the election after polling 258,042 votes at the election.

However, addressing a press conference in Abakaliki Wednesday, State chairman of the Party Comrade Obiya Sabastine Friday, noted that after reviewing the various aspects of the process, the party came to the conclusion that it must “challenge the outcome of the March 28 and April 11, 2015 elections in court.”

“We are not timid and incapable of fighting for our rights in Ebonyi State as some people believe.

“If similar electoral frauds were not challenged in the South West and other parts of Nigeria, perhaps by now our democracy would have made political power available to the rich by the strong and for the big.”

While stressing that stolen mandates are no longer fashionable, the LP chairman noted that “everybody in Ebonyi State witnessed the use of security agents especially soldiers to collect sensitive electoral materials and supervise the falsification of results of the election”. the LP Chairman declared

He recalled that his party alongside the All Progressives Congress, (APC) and the All Progressives Grand Alliance, (APGA) had petitioned the INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega chronicling the many instances of electoral malfeasance perpetrated by PDP and security agents adding that “in all these corruption of the people’s will, ad hoc staff of INEC were either in collusion or held under duress by the security operatives”.

“But despite the many instances of large scale of fraud, manipulation, intimidation and falsification of results in the Governorship and House of Assembly election held on April 11, 2015, an obviously compromised INEC in Ebonyi State went ahead to announce the result procured at the expense of the blood of innocent Ebonyians contrary to the mandate Ebonyi people gave to their preferred candidates.

“Our field agents have been bringing reports and evidences of the monumental falsification of results that took place during the election.

“The collusion of INEC and PDP in the vote stealing is mindboggling. Results were entered into polling unit result sheet and later re-written into the customized result sheets to suit the demands of PDP.

“At private residences of PDP chieftains, ballot papers were thumb-printed and votes allocated votes with impunity.” LP pointed out that

“Apart from the killings, brigandage, fraud and forgery, PDP thugs snatched and diverted election materials” adding that for instance that “in Ohaozara local government area, all elections were done in the residence of the Deputy Governor and PDP governorship candidate, Engr. Dave Umahi”.

“Consequently the LP boss stated: “We have reviewed all that went on during the shambolic election and come to the conclusion that we as a law abiding political party focused on probity and credible election must challenge the outcome of the March 28 and April 11, 2015 elections in court.

“In taking this stand, we are aware of the false attempt at fence mending by the architects of the electoral fraud. People have boasted that all they want was to be named winner so that they could deploy their financial might on the system.

“We know bribes are being given, we know it is also possible for the PDP to bribe judges as they usually do, but we must approach the temple of justice to seek redress.

“We shall not fold our hands and watch evil being rewarded and thieves crowned as chiefs.