The battle for who takes charge of Oguta State Assembly is getting messier daily with affected persons and political parties engaging in verbal war over the conduct of last weekend’s election.
Few days after the State Governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha addressed a world press conference demanding the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to release the results that allegedly favours the APGA candidate, Walter Uzonwanne, a PDP Chieftain and Senator representing Orlu Zone (Imo West) Senator Hope Uzodinma has given it back to the State Governor accusing him and some of his lieutenants of several misdeeds that reportedly marred the election.
Addressing journalists in Abuja yesterday, Senator Uzodinma berated the State Governor for failing to play a role of a statesman and People’s Governor during the election which INEC declared inconclusive.
Worried by the conduct of the Governor and some of his lieutenants before, during and after the election, especially the recent world press conference where Okorocha claimed APGA won, the Senator urged INEC to be “vigilant and mindful of the fact that it is dealing with a serial law breaker.
“The Okorocha-led government in Imo State is a government that has no respect for either due process or the rule of law. The APGA government in Imo State has shown enough knack for lawlessness to worry all sane minds. I got so worried at a point that I wrote a confidential letter to the governor (which I will now make public), advising him to respect the constitution, he swore to protect and the rule of law which is the lynchpin of democracy. This was in February 2012”.
“Over a year after, I have come to the informed conclusion that Governor Rochas Okorocha has an incurable phobia for law and order. His latest display of unbridled brigandry at the Oguta election is a further proof of this. INEC must therefore constantly watch its back as this man can do anything to torpedo due process”.
According to Uzodimma “Since the bye-election was in my constituency and my party, the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) was contesting in the election; I was personally present at the election. It therefore came to me as a rude shock that the State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, who was nowhere near the election venue, went out of his way to churn out falsehood and raise undue alarm over the said election. I have therefore invited you to set the records straight with a firsthand account of what happened at the election”.
“At the start of the election, the conduct was orderly and peaceful except Osemoto ward that was taken over by government thugs and hoodlums. However mid-way, apparently sensing impending defeat, the APGA led state government unleashed thugs and hooligans on all the wards in Oguta Local Government Area. The Security agents rose to the challenge and were able to contain the thugs in many of the wards and election continued in those wards. But in Osemoto and Egbuoma/Ekwe wards, the thugs overwhelmed the security agents and disrupted the electoral process”.
“Following the sheer impudence of these thugs in the said Osemoto and Egbuoma/Ekwe wards, election could not take place in all the booths in these wards because the electoral officers and ad-hoc workers ran for their dear lives and abandoned the booths”.
To the chagrin of many observers a few minutes after the show of shame in these wards, well known government officials stormed the INEC office in Oguta with results for the wards where election did not hold. The team was led by Uche Nwosu, the son-in-law to Governor Rochas Okorocha who is also the Commissioner for Lands in Imo State. The Deputy Chief of Staff, Mr. Mbanaso and Mr. Kenneth Emelu, the Commissioner for Youth and Sports were also in the team.
“The cooked results were handed over to Lady Dorathy Akpuchukwu, Electoral Officer in Oguta, who most unbelievably accepted them. To be fair, her conduct was not totally unexpected. The PDP in the state had always doubted her impartiality as an umpire, and the party has made that known to anybody who cared to listen”.
“As it stands now, the PDP is leading in the results announced for the other wards with 7585 to APGA’s 7241. I must add that in the entire election process, the PDP members remained calm and exhibited a great sense of maturity”.
“I am aware that when the state government’s plan ‘A’ for rigging the election failed, it resorted to its plan ‘B’ which is to bribe the electoral officials and induce INEC to announce results for Osemoto and Egbuoma/Egwe wards. To this end, state government officials have held series of meetings with the collation officers involved in the election. These meetings were held at Lamonde Hotel, Okigwe Road in Owerri. The hotel is owned by the State Governor, Rochas Okorocha.One of such meetings was held last Monday, July 1, 2013. The Governor knows what transpired in that meeting”.
“Shortly after the said meeting, Governor Rochas Okorocha addressed a press conference and called on INEC to declare the APGA candidate winner of the election. I suspect that the sudden courage to make the call on INEC must have been borne out of the outcome of the said meeting with some collation officials in Owerri”.
However, all said, I am supremely confident that INEC will ensure that justice and due process shall prevail at the end. I enjoin all PDP supporters in Imo state to remain calm. Victory is ours!
