Labour Party Calls for Removal of Imo REC over Compromise

Amby Uneze in Owerri

The Imo State chapter of the Labour Party (LP) has called for the removal of the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the State, Prof Sylvia Agu for allegedly compromising to  deliberately disenfranchise voters in the state in the February 25 presidential and National Assembly elections.

In addition, the party also called for the immediate removal all the Electoral Officers and SPOs in the state.

In a press conference in Owerri, Monday, Chairman of the party in the state, Dr. Ambrose Onyekwere, submitted that Labour Party has rejected in advance all results for the House of Assembly elections scheduled for March 11, 2023, if conducted by the current REC in the state.

Dr. Onyekwere said the election was marred by late arrival of voting materials at the polling units, non conduct of election at many polling units, especially in the Imo East senatorial zone, deliberate subversion of electoral process by INEC officials, manipulation of BVAS, and intimidation and harassment of electorate.

The chairman stated that elections did not hold in seven out of the 11 electoral wards in Okigwe Local Government Area of Imo North Senatorial Zone, but regretted that the said INEC went ahead to declare the senatorial and House of Representatives candidates of the ruling All Progressives Congress, as winners of the elections that could not hold.

Onyekwere maintained that Labour Party, from the outcome of the elections, won landslide from  presidential to House of Representatives.

He stated that the failure of INEC to upload the results in its portal has raised concerns and shown the insincerity of the electoral umpire.

Also, another user identified as Yagozie Ogbonna, wrote: “@BenHundeyin, we shouldn’t be teaching you your job! Stop citing malicious lines in times like this. It’s no longer about Igbo, Hausa, or Yoruba, but the few wicked politicians and unscrupulous and insensitive agencies like INEC who use ethnicity and religion to divide us.”

While Mickey Okeleke simply asked: “Why didn’t you say some Yoruba hoodlums if you want people to believe you are not profiling the other tribe?”

Meanwhile, Hundeyin has denied the ‘ethnic-whistling’ allegation levelled against him by some members of the public when he reacted to news of hoodlums attacking some business owners on Lagos Island in the early hours of yesterday.

Hundeyin, who had come under heavy criticism by Nigerians over the alleged ethnic whistling, in his reaction to the allegation on his Twitter handle, wrote: “I urge us not to fall for tribal bigotry. The complaint was that Igbos were being attacked and robbed.

“I investigated and found it true that Igbo traders were specifically being chased away by some hoodlums over the insistence of the traders to open a shop today despite an agreement by all the traders that shops would not open yesterday and today.

“LagosPoliceNG would not condone that. Patrol teams from three different units were swiftly dispatched there. Our swift response prevented anyone from being attacked or robbed, as widely claimed. Normalcy was restored and officers remained on ground.

“The complaint brought up was addressed squarely, and not shying away from the facts. I urge us not to see things from the lens of tribalism (as I am being wrongly accused of) but from the lens of facts and figures. We are all Nigerians!”