Emmanuel Thomas l Tuesday, September 12, 2017
AWKA, Anambra – One of the governorship aspirants in the just concluded All Progressive Congress, (APC) primaries in Anambra State, Mr. Nonso Madu has rebutted allegations made by Senator Andy Uba in his petition to the APC Appeal Committee that the election that produced Anthony Nwoye was marked by irregularities due to what he called presence of thugs
In the petition before the committee, Senator Andy Uba accused Dr Tony Nwoye of bringing thugs/NANS members into the accreditation venue to chase away delegates and that he should be declared winner of the primaries.
In a statement, Nonso Madu described Uba’s allegation as nothing but total falsehood.
“This is not true as the accreditation was conducted peacefully. Delegates were identified through the following means- Permanent voters card(PVC) National ID card, drivers license or International passport. They also came with their party membership slip with photograph issued to them by the party during registration.
“The party had already made the delegates list available to all aspirants, 2 weeks before the primaries. With the delegates known, their was little room for manipulation.
“The Nigerian police force led by Anambra state police commissioner Umar Garba, the DSS and other security agencies provided adequate security at the accreditation venue, making it nearly impossible for the venue to be infiltrated by thugs.
“Our dear Senator Andy Uba even attested to this during his interview with pressmen at the accreditation venue. The allegation that delegated were swapped is simply laughable. After accreditation, delegates were conveyed to the voting center on marked buses with full police escort. There was no room for any maneuver as the delegates had no physical contacts with outsiders”, he said.
See full statement below:
The road leading to the voting venue was not even accessible to commutters and other road users, as it was cordoned off by security agencies, making it impossible for any non-accredited person to gain entrance to the venue.
Most importantly, during voting proper, once a local government is called, the various ward chairmen are called to vote first, then line up in front of the hall to identify delegates from their ward who then proceed to cast votes. The allegation of presence of thugs at the venue is untrue, except if Senator Andy Uba is now referring to genuine APC members as thugs simply because they did not vote for him.
Senator Andy Uba also alleged that some delegates have gone to court to depose affidavits on what transpired. The party should note that this is their usual tactics of scuttling elections once it doesnt go their way. It is a PDP tradition which they want to import to our peaceful APC and must be resisted. Our party leaders should note that this tactics was used in 2013 to scuttle the ambitions of the same Tony Nwoye after he defeated the same people in a primaries televised live on national TV. The litigation went all the way to the Supreme court and by the time judgment was delivered Dr Tony Nwoye had just 10 days to campaign. Despite the short time left for him to campaign, he still finished 2nd in the General elections.
My attention has been drawn to a petition written by Senator Andy Uba, addressed to the Anambra State Governorship primaries appeal committee of the APC.
I had earlier expressed disbelief when saharareporters made a publication, accusing Senator Andy Uba of putting pressure on members of the committee to annul the primary election.
I had doubted the authenticity of the report, due to the way senator Andy Uba commended the entire process while voting was ongoing with all assurance that he was going to emerge victorious.
Having seen the petition, i must say that i am unimpressed that our distinguished Senator would descend to this level to tarnish an exercise that was painstakingly organised by His Excellency Governor Kassim Shettima-led electoral panel, adjudged to be the best so far conducted.
In the petition, Senator Andy Uba accused Dr Tony Nwoye of bringing thugs/NANS members into the accreditation venue to chase away delegates. This is not true as the accreditation was conducted peacefully. Delegates were identified through the following means- Permanent voters card(PVC) National ID card, drivers license or International passport. They also came with their party membership slip with photograph issued to them by the party during registration.
The party had already made the delegates list available to all aspirants, 2 weeks before the primaries. With the delegates known, their was little room for manipulation.
The Nigerian police force led by Anambra state police commissioner Umar Garba, the DSS and other security agencies provided adequate security at the accreditation venue, making it nearly impossible for the venue to be infiltrated by thugs. Our dear Senator Andy Uba even attested to this during his interview with pressmen at the accreditation venue.
The allegation that delegated were swapped is simply laughable. After accreditation, delegates were conveyed to the voting center on marked buses with full police escort. Their was no room for any maneuver as the delegates had no physical contacts with outsiders.
The road leading to the voting venue was not even accessible to commutters and other road users, as it was cordoned off by security agencies, making it impossible for any non-accredited person to gain entrance to the venue.
Most importantly, during voting proper, once a local government is called, the various ward chairmen are called to vote first, then line up in front of the hall to identify delegates from their ward who then proceed to cast votes. The allegation of presence of thugs at the venue is untrue, except if Senator Andy Uba is now referring to genuine APC members as thugs simply because they did not vote for him.
Senator Andy Uba also alleged that some delegates have gone to court to depose affidavits on what transpired. The party should note that this is their usual tactics of scuttling elections once it doesn’t go their way. It is a PDP tradition which they want to import to our peaceful APC and must be resisted.
Our party leaders should note that this tactics was used in 2013 to scuttle the ambitions of the same Tony Nwoye after he defeated the same people in a primaries televised live on national TV. The litigation went all the way to the Supreme court and by the time judgment was delivered Dr Tony Nwoye had just 10 days to campaign. Despite the short time left for him to campaign, he still finished 2nd in the General elections.
In conclusion, Senator Andy Uba asked to be declared winner of an election he clearly lost. There is a popular saying among party members that with the margin of over 2,000 votes to andy uba’s 900, Tony Nwoye did not just come first, he came second and 3rd while Uba finished 4th.
Senator Andy Uba should spare us with the “capacity” statement which he has made a sing- song. He should know that the days of PDP abracadabra are over. He does not have the capacity to win any election that is free, fair and transparent in which votes are allowed to count hence he couldnt win the APC primaries.
If Senator Andy Uba’s capacity could not win him the apc primaries, he does not have the capacity to win the November 18th elections in which votes are expected to count.
I urge the most distinguished senator Andy Uba to stop embarrassing himself and work for the party as earlier pledged. His actions are being seen by Anambra state members as anti-party and our national leadership should not fail to wield the big stick when necessary.
Barr Nonso Madu.
Anambra APC Governorship aspirant
Sent from my iPhone
Twitter: @NonsoIsHere
