The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Imo State has accused irregularities in the way the state’s local government election was conducted and has denounced the results.
The party asserted that the Imo Council poll was conducted at hotels and the offices of the Sole Administrators of the 27 local government areas, claiming that the election was a planned sham.
Addressing journalists in Owerri, the state capital, the state’s PDP chairman, Austine Nwachukwu, said: “We have today witnessed the murder of democracy. The purported local government elections in Imo State today, September 21, 2024, is nothing but a show of shame, an organized fraud, and an unprecedented rape of democracy.
“We can boldly tell that there was no election anywhere in the State today. As of 4 pm on a supposed election day, Imo people witnessed with grief the absence of sensitive and non-sensitive electoral materials at virtually all the polling units across the entire State, even as electoral officers were not sighted anywhere near voting centers.
“Frustrated and disappointed, voters who had waited so long to cast their ballots to no avail retired to their respective homes. In a rather shocking development, the Imo State Independent Electoral Commission (ISIEC) instead delivered the sensitive electoral materials to APC leaders and cronies at various LGAs.
“Recall that four days ago, the PDP in Imo State had raised alarm over a plot by the APC administration to rig the election, with ISIEC criminally flouting the electoral act and its own guidelines.”
It is worth noting that until today, the day of the election, the ISIEC failed to disclose the names of the candidates for the election, nor did the commission make the voter register available at the polling stations as mandated by the law.
There was no dialogue or gathering with political parties, candidates, and other interested parties concerning the election. This represents the pinnacle of their illegality.
“Also, just a day before the election, no one knew who the ISIEC electoral officers were and how the ad-hoc staff were selected. The commission never advertised applications for its ad-hoc roles. This is dubious and undemocratic.
“The anti-people manner in which the Hope Uzodimma administration has gone about the local government elections is clear proof that the government has totally failed the people and performed abysmally in all aspects of governance.
“If not why are they scared of the ballot? A government in touch with the people will not be scared of them. They are a disgrace to democratic governance,” Nwachukwu said.