Uche Ogbuagu, the Labour Party candidate for the Ikeduru/Mbaitoli Federal Constituency in Imo State, has lodged petitions with the Inspector General of Police Usman Baba, the Chief of Army Staff Lucky Irabor, the National Security Adviser, the Director of the Department of Security Services, and the Assistant Inspector General of Police for Zone 9 in Umuahia. The petitions concern the supplementary election scheduled for Saturday.
At a press conference on Tuesday, Ogbuagu alleged that the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Akarachi Amadi, his father, and members of their campaign organization have been intimidating his supporters. He, who currently represents Ikeduru Local Government Area in the state House of Assembly, claimed that the APC candidate intimidated voters during the first ballot on 25 February and had devised plans to rig the supplementary election on 11 March. Displaying copies of the petitions, Ogbuagu said he is confident of victory if the supplementary election is free, fair, and credible. In the first ballot, the Labour Party candidate received 17,000 votes, while the APC candidate trailed with 12,000.
“The evidence before me proves that colossal attempts were made by some callous people on 25 February, when elections were held for the president and National Assembly, to truncate the will of the people,” Ogbuagu said. “In spite of the monumental electoral fraud perpetrated that day, I was comfortably leading with over 17,000 votes, while the next person trailed with less than 12,000.” He noted that INEC eventually declared the election inconclusive because voting did not take place in certain polling booths, some of which were cancelled due to irregularities and violence. He added that elections have already been completed and announced in over 80 percent of the polling units in Mbaitoli and Ikeduru.
Ogbuagu accused Prince Charles Amadi, the father of the APC candidate, of using thugs and armed men in police, military, and civilian uniforms to coerce voters. “At some booths, people were beaten and assaulted in full view of me. My uncles, elderly women, and pregnant and nursing mothers suffered serious injuries,” he said. He further alleged discrepancies between the cancelled election figures and the results uploaded on INEC’s Result Viewing Portal, claiming they did not match the figures recorded on election day.
The Labour Party candidate also indicted security agencies for deploying a large number of operatives to protect a person who holds no elected or appointed position. “In his hometown Eziama, this man—who prides himself on being an operational leader despite never holding any elective or appointive office—relocated booth 020 at Owuzor Hall to the residence of his errand boy, Mr Chuks Metu, where voting took place without INEC’s consent. We have video evidence.” He said the same occurred at booth 021, Eke Amaehi, which has a capacity of 1,382 voters. “The INEC ICT portal recorded 1,382 voters, but for the rerun scheduled for 11 March 2023, this man and his cohorts inflated the figure to 10,382. It is implausible that a small polling unit in remote Eziama could register even 1,000 voters, let alone 10,283, given the close‑knit nature of the community.”
Ogbuagu questioned how the police, army, and civil defence could assign over 25 uniformed men to a civilian with no government role or national honour, calling it “too much impunity.” He reiterated that he has previously petitioned the COAS, the IGP, the DSS Director General, and the Assistant Inspector General of Police for Zone 9, and that copies of these petitions will be made available to the press.
He thanked constituents for supporting the Labour Party in the 25 February elections and urged them to vote again on 11 March, saying, “Your vote for the Labour Party on Saturday will confirm and testify to the landslide victory of the Labour Party at the presidential and National Assembly elections.”
When contacted, the spokesperson for the APC candidate, Darlington Irobi, claimed the Labour Party candidate was afraid of the supplementary election and alleged that any electoral malpractice on 25 February was perpetrated by the Labour Party and its supporters.
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