By Joshua Chibuzo Andrew| Owerri
Senator Athan Achonu, the Labour Party governorship candidate in Imo state has urged the electoral umpire, INEC to authenticate the use of both manual and electronic transmission of results in next Saturday governorship election in the state.
He said the two options, if efficiently adopted and used in the November 11 governorship election, will go a long way in reducing issues of complexity that may lead to rigging.
Achonu, in a press conference on Saturday held Owerri, the Imo state capital, urged INEC to be cautious of a clandestine move by the ruling APC in the state to influence its Polling Officers and Ad Hoc Staff either by inducing them with money or intimidating them using government power.
He recalled that several video evidences in circulation showed where APC leaders in the state were busy harvesting details of voter cards in communities like Owerri-west, Oguta, Okigwe, Ihitte-Uboma among others.
This, he described as a criminal act and attempt to subvert the will of the people.
The LP candidate insisted that all collation be done at INEC official designated centers and not local government council headquarters to ensure the representatives of all participating parties are given equal opportunity to monitor the process during collation.
Achonu said, “we demand both manual and electronic transmission of results. INEC should authenticate the both because ECA is a legal tender which must be entered into the incident form. It’s not right to say manual collation is an alternative where the electronic method has failed. The two methods should be used concurrently. It will go a long way in reducing complexities that may lead to rigging.
“Secondly, INEC should ensure it provides adequate security in all polling units and collation centres in the so that no eligible voter is disenfranchised as a result of insecurity.
“It is also important to restate that all collation should be done at the official designated centers, and not LG council headquarters.
“Specifically, Isiala Mbano INEC office was burnt down down by hoodlums. So INEC should publicly announce a public primary school as collation centre for Isiala Mbano. This should also be the case in every other locations with similar challenges.
“We will use all lawful means to resist any plan to collate results in any place other than officially designated locations at the ward level and at the local government level.
“We call on INEC to, as a matter of urgency, publish the polling centres where elections will not hold. This should be in the public knowledge before the election.”
Concluding, Achonu called on Imo people to take their destinies in their hands by leveraging on the November polls as an opportunity to enthrone good governance that will not promote insecurity, hardship, hunger, unemployment, youth restiveness, dictatorship, non-payment of salary and other inhuman treatment as currently witnessed in the APC government in Imo state.
He however condemned the recent attack on the President of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Joe Ajaero by suspected security agents in the state, describing it as an attack on the nation, Nigerian workers and democracy.
In the same vein, he frowned at the reported efforts of the state government to block accommodation in all hotels in Owerri as another strategy geared toward rigging the election.
He advised hotel managements in Imo state to resist this anti-democratic, anti-people move as government, he insisted, has no right to infringe on peoples private property.
