Supplementary Election: Labour Party Candidate in Imo Urges INEC to Live Up to Expectations

•Accuses APC of plotting to Manipulate Mbaitoli/Ikeduru Poll

Amby Uneze in Owerri

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has been advised to live up to expectations in the supplementary election for Mbaitoli/Ikeduru federal constituency holding on Saturday.

The Labour Party candidate for supplementary election in Mbaitoli/Ikeduru Federal Constituency of Imo State, Uche Ogbuagu, who gave the advice, said the Commission would be held totally responsible for any lapses that would prevent free, fair and credible supplementary election.

Ogbuagu, alleged that the reports he gathered indicated that the All Progressives Congress (APC) had concluded plans to rig the election with connivance of security agencies and intimidation.

Disclosing this yesterday, during a press conference at his country home at Akabo community in the Ikeduru Local Government Area, Ogbuagu, further alleged that the APC candidate, Akarachi Amadi and his father, Charles Amadi, had perfected plans to manipulate the election.

He said he had evidences of how the APC members had concluded plans to use thugs as well as the dreaded Ebubeagu unconventional security outfit to rig the election.

Ogbuagu said the petitions he had earlier sent to the police and Department of Security Services had not been attended to after about one month.

According to him, only a transparent election would be accepted by the people of the federal constituency.

He said, “It is very appalling that a reign of terror was unleashed on the innocent indigenes of the two Local Government Councils of Mbaitoli and Ikeduru, by a self-acclaimed ‘Operational Leader’ Charles Amadi and his cohorts.

“Such brazen show of force was championed by their Ebubeagu group in concert with other cult groups in their pay roll.

“While their evil plans keep failing, they have continued unabated with their desperate satanic plots to eliminate me and family, to frame me up with everything possible at their disposal, including but not limited to conniving with armed cultists and bandits, prison escapees, to plant guns in my house and raising false alarm for my arrest and conviction over a crime that I know nothing about.

“But God has been exposing them even through those they contracted for such heinous plots.

“Some of the expositions made by the cohorts of this operational leader were, smartly captured in video and pictorial modes and we have them as in controvertible proof.

“From the video excerpts, you will see and hear from those, who have either been bribed to kill me, kidnap me and or frame me up.

“But as God may have it, they came on their own volition to make very startling revelations. One of such person was a guy who was used to distribute all manner of guns to the youths of Mbaike for election thuggery of February 25, 2023, but when they failed in the election, they pounced on him to recover both their arms/monies paid to him and his boys.”

In his reaction, the spokesperson for the APC candidate, Darlington Irobi, also accused the LP candidate and his people for being the ones trying to rig the election.

He said his principal and all APC members and supporters were busy campaigning ahead of this weekend’s primary election.