By Amauche Agbo, Abakaliki
Not fewer than over one thousand supporters of Labour Party, LP, House of Representatives Candidates in Ebonyi state have stormed INEC’s state headquarters Abakaliki, calling for the cancellation of Saturday’s election over alleged manipulations and rigging of their results.
According to the House of Representatives Candidates, Abakaliki/Izzi Federal Constituency, Dr Ezeh Emmanuel Ezeh and his counterpart of Ohaukwu/Ebonyi, Prince Chibueze Agbo accused some bad elements in INEC of connivance with APC power mongers to mutilate and delete their figures of their results in the favour of APC candidates.
The protesters who carried placard with different Inscriptions such as “The power of the people is greater than the people in power, No rigging, No rigging” were chanting, “End rigging, End rigging”.
In an interactions with newsmen during the protest, the party’s candidates appealed to president Muhammadu Buhari and other concerns good citizens of the country to order the Ebonyi state Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mrs Onyeka Ugochi Pauline to announce the original results gotten at the polling units in the area.
The labour party candidates explained that the “bad elements in INEC connived with the agents of the All Progressives Congress, APC to mutilate their original results sheets due to the BVAS machines inability to upload results at the PU when they got to collection centers
Eze added, “The results of Abakaliki/Izzi Federal Constituency are yet to be announced till now. They keep mutilating the results. “This is 48hours since the election was conducted and they keep mutilating, deleting and adding choice figures to suit their paymaster against the mandate given to me by my people. “I’m calling on INEC to announce my results, I won overwhelmingly and that’s why my people are here demanding INEC to call our results.
On his part, Prince Agbo, who’s contesting for Ohaukwu/Ebonyi federal constituency frowned at the shoddy attitude shown against them and urged the electoral umpire not to sabotage the people’s mandate as such would add to the insecurity in the land. “Nobody is happy with what’s happening in Nigeria today. But I am happy that the masses are giving the Obidient movement massive support. “But few bad elements in INEC trying to thwart the wish of the people will never succeed and we are calling on them to endeavour to manage the electoral revolution going on well instead of pushing the masses into violence.
Meanwhile, the state secretary of Labour Party, Barr Luke Adonwe called on Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC to observe the new electoral law which stipulated that election’s result should be uploaded to the BVAS at the polling units and serve as reliable document for presentation.
Earlier, the State Chairman of Labour Party Hon. Godwin Jioke who protested at the INEC Headquarters hall for the delay of the commission to announce the results, attributed the situation to a calculated attempt by the INEC to rig the elections in favour of APC.
Jioke who frowned at the development alleged that the INEC in collaboration with the APC are of a plans to rig the elections in favour of the APC candidates, and vowed not to accept such results if his party didn’t win as the whole process was shortchanged by INEC officials.