Imo re-run: PDP Rep candidate, Ukanacho rejects result

By Musa Baba Adamu

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the Mbaitoli/Ikeduru re-run House of Representatives election, Dr. Osmond Ukanacho, has rejected the declaration of the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Engr Akarachi Amadi, as the winner of the election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Ukanacho, who made the remarks on Tuesday while addressing journalists in Owerri, said INEC was wrong to have taken such a hasty decision when it appeared obvious to everyone that the election did not hold in virtually all the 58 polling units the exercise was supposed to take place.
According to Dr. Ukanacho, those who came out to cast their votes for him were harassed, humiliated, intimidated, and dispersed by thugs suspected to be agents of the ruling APC, and wondered why INEC officials ignored that and still went ahead to announce the frivolous result in favor of APC.
Ukanacho further expressed bitterness about how INEC announced a result of the election that was never held, noting that in Umunocha Atta, Amike, Eziama, and some parts of Mbieri communities where elections were supposed to hold, appointees of the present APC administration were sighted carting away with election materials under the full protection of security agents.
He vowed to reclaim the mandate in court since all evidence available to the public showed that the exercise was heavily compromised against PDP.
He said, “What happened in the re-run election was beyond explanation. Since the history of democracy in Nigeria, the level of thuggery, snatching of ballot boxes, and violence that marred the exercise remain surprising and worrisome. It is now becoming obvious that APC as a party and its agents are afraid of a free and fair election. Everyone saw that I won that election, but INEC and APC had an understanding that led to the rigging of our mandate.”
While appealing to PDP members in the federal constituency to remain calm, be law abiding and undeterred, Ukanacho vowed to use every legal means to recover the stolen mandate.