All Progressive Congress (APC) in Imo state is currently enmessed with crisis over the outcome of the party’s primaries that produced unidentified people as Chairmanship and Councillorship candidates.
Group, under the auspices of Forum of APC Chairmanship and Councillorship aspirants in Imo state disclosed this on Wednesday while addressing newsmen in Owerri, the Imo State capital. The group has representatives across the three zones in the state.
Coordinator of the Forum and Chairmanship aspirant, Barr Lucky Ikwubuo, popularly known as, “Onye Eze” expressed annoyance that prior to the sale of nomination and expression of interest forms, the party in a stakeholders’ meeting held at the party’s Secretariate along Okigwe road told aspirants to commence the purchase of forms ahead of a peaceful, fair and credible primary election.
Barr Ikwubuo regretted that after their colleagues had picked the forms with over N3 million, and commenced consultations across wards in their respective LGAs, only for Governor Hope Uzodinma and the party’s Chairman, Macdonald Ebere to inform them that the party would adopt a consensus arrangement.
He maintained that while his colleagues were prepared and awaited for a primary election, only for a list of selected Chairmanship and Councillorship candidates emerging from no where without primary election.
According to him, Governor Uzodinma addressed them and directed that their money be refunded without further delay. He said that by accepting to refund them the money used for the purchase of the forms was an indication that there was no primary election contrary to both the electoral Act and the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended.
An APC Chieftain contacted to respond to the allegation said on conduction of anonymity, “the situation is very bad and does not show that our party believes in democracy. If you asked people willing to represent their LGAs and Wards to pay a certain amount of money for forms, what that means is that you are prepared to conduct a credible primary election for winners to emerge amongst them. But by compiling names of friends, relations, concubines, in-laws and girls secretly and forwarding same to the ISIEC as candidates of our party is most disheartening. This act should be condemned. As a leader, I can’t condone evil, what the Governor and the APC Chairman did is a broad day scam to the aspirants and what they should do urgently to remedy the situation is to refund them without further delay”
Barr Ikwubuo further threatened that his colleagues had concluded all arrangements to embark on a two days protest on the streets of Owerri to demonstrate against the scamming of their hard earned money by both Governor Uzodinma and Ebere if their money was not refunded within 48 hours.
