Anambra South Senatorial poll was sabotaged, voters denied right to elect credible leader- ADC

 

By Okechukwu Onuegbu

African Democratic Congress (ADC) Senatorial candidate for Anambra South district, Barr. Donald Chidi Amamgbo has alleged that the recently concluded bye-election was sabotaged with vote buying and other irregularities thereby denying voters right to elect a credible Senator.

Amamgbo, in a statement issued in Awka, Anambra State capital, described the poll as a "dangerous pattern of systemic sabotage, desecration of all democratic norms, collusion, and deliberate disenfranchisement that threatens the very soul of our democracy."

According to him, "On the eve of the elections, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) deliberately withheld the tags for our ward and local government collation agents, effectively crippling ADC’s ability to defend the votes of our people at all critical stages of collation. 

"The answer is the infantile attempt to disillusion and debase ADC the primary opposition party in Nigeria. Look no further than the loquacious and bombastic statement of Professor Charles Soludo that “Labor and ADC parties are dead in Anambra”.  If that was so then Anambra South is an electoral crime scene and Professor Soludo election malfeasance is the directly to blame.

"Elections are meant to be the ultimate expression of the people’s will. Instead, what we witnessed was a carefully orchestrated charade designed to obfuscate, suffocate and decimate the people’s voice and choice.  Ultimately undermining the credibility of the process. I ask: How can an election be free and fair when one party is denied collation agents? That is like asking a team to play football blindfolded while the referee looks the other way."

He alleged that the "sabotage was not random. It was a deliberate and deviant orchestration by the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) a political in Anambra. Very devastating is the fact that APGA government has normalised vote buying knowing fully well that the hungry exploited citizens of Anambra state will collect money to vote just to survive another day. "

The ADC Senatorial candidate added that "In Ihiala, INEC went further by circulating a doctored list of polling agents that did not correspond with the authentic list duly submitted by our party and uploaded on the INEC portal. These are not mistakes. They are not clerical oversights. They are acts of sabotage.

"At the centre of this charade is a Senator-elect tethered to the control of Governor Charles Soludo. This is not democracy. This is puppetry Ndi Anambra South do not need a puppet senator. They need an independent voice who owes allegiance only to the people, not to any godfather or governor.

He, therefore, called for a total review of the entire electoral process in Anambra South with a view "to expose and address the sabotage that took place. Institutional reforms within INEC to guarantee independence, transparency, and accountability. Proper voter and agent education, so that our people can understand their rights, defend their votes, and resist manipulation."

Amamgbo said it was necessary given that "The real victims are the people of Anambra South. They were denied the chance to elect a candidate who campaigned transparently, who funded his own movement, who made no deals with godfathers, and who pledged to serve only the people. When you deny the people their choice, you deny them justice.

"When you destroy faith in the ballot, you destroy democracy itself. Every time this happens, our children pay the price. A society that starves its people of hope cannot prosper. This election must not be swept under the carpet as “one of those things.” It is a cautionary sad tale about how vested interests and compromised institutions continue to hijack then eviscerate the people’s will.

"An end to the culture of collusion where political parties, godfathers, and electoral umpires work hand-in-hand to suppress genuine democratic choice. Fellow Nigerians, Ndi Anambra South, democracy is not a favour given to the people; it is their right. The mandate of our people cannot continue to be stolen through systemic sabotage and manipulation."