One of the aggrieved Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Edo governorship aspirants, Chief Anselm Ojezua, says last weekend ward congress in the state was not free and fair.
Ojezua said during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Friday that only two officials conducted the election in 192 wards in the state.
He described the last weekend exercise as a mockery of the party’s regulations and processes, adding that the result sheets in all 102 wards were signed by only two officers.
Ojezua said that nine out of the 10 aspirants were excluded from the exercise and only saw the result sheets when they arrived in Abuja to lodge an appeal against the process.
According to him, it was only when they got to Abuja that they saw that the result sheets for the exercise that was supposedly conducted simultaneously in 192 wards were signed by only two officials.
He said the sheets were signed by the chairman of the ward congress committee, Gov. Peter Mbah of Enugu State and the secretary of the committee.
“What I find more disturbing is that the chairman came in, midway into the exercise and he went to two locations.
“It was when he came he made a call to the deputy governor who is one of the aspirants, informing him that he has just arrived and would love to meet with the aspirants.
He said that was waiting for his counterpart, and that as soon as he arrives he would inform us.
“We waited and the next day at about 4.00 pm or thereabout we saw him on television saying that he has been to two locations, that the process is free and fair,“ he said.
Ojezua who moved from the APC to the PDP with Gov. Godwin Obaseki in 2020, alleged that the entire process of the ward congress was fraught with irregularities and even illegalities.
“It was also when we got to Abuja to lodge our joint appeal that first time we saw the result sheets and discovered that two persons conducted the election in 192 wards simultaneously.
“All the result sheets were not signed by the electoral officers. Not one of them. All of them were signed by Gov. Peter Mbah and the committee secretary, ” he said.
The NAN recalls that at the end of the exercise, Mbah insists that the exercise followed due process therefore free and fair.
He told newsmen that he was satisfied with the conduct of the exercise and turnout of voters.
NAN
DISCLAIMER
The OPINION / COLUMN is authored by independent contributors to the National Accord Newspaper. While contributors adhere to our editorial guidelines, they are not employed by the National Accord Newspaper. The perspectives and opinions expressed herein are solely those of the author and do not represent the views of the National Accord Newspaper or its staff.
Leave a Reply