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INEC Returning Officer Narrates How He was Forced to Announce Okorocha Winner of Senate Seat

Published

5 years ago

February 25, 2019

Eric

Sunday night’s melodrama snowballed into a full-blown controversy Monday morning when the returning officer for Imo West Senatorial District, Innocent Ibeabuchi, said he was “detained at the centre for days.”

He said this while announcing the results of the senatorial election for the zone.

Before reeling out figures at the district collation centre in the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) Office in Orlu, Mr Ibeabuchi, a professor, said he was being held “under duress” to announce the results.

“My name is Ibeabuchi Izuchukwu Innocent, a professor at the Federal University of Technology Owerri (FUTO), the returning officer for Imo West (Orlu) senatorial zone”, the official said.

“My area commander; my P.Os; the party agents here present; members of the press; ladies and gentlemen.

“I have been held hostage here for days so I’m trying to ease off and take my life home back to my children and for the sake of that I am calling these results under duress,” the returning officer said.

He then reeled out the results.

The Drama

After announcing nine out of 12 local government areas that made up the zone, Mr Ibeabuchi paused. The time was 9:45 p.m Sunday.

Three LGA results were being awaited to finalise results for Imo west district. They are Oru West, Ugwuta and Orlu.

The outgoing governor of the state, Rocha Okorocha who ran under the All Progressives Congress (APC) won in eight of the nine local governments announced earlier.

Mr Ibeabuchi said he received an urgent call from the state’s Resident Electoral Commission (REC), Francis Ezeonu, to return to Owerri and continue the process Monday morning.

But Mr Okorocha’s supporters insisted the returning officer “must complete” the announcement, “otherwise, he is not going anywhere.”

They blocked the professor from leaving the building. They refused to yield even when police officers intervened.

For hours, the APC agents who initially hauled verbal threats at the returning officer resorted to pleading. But Mr Ibeabuchi stuck to his guns.

He remained unmoved even after Mr Okorocha and his closest rival, Jones Onyeriri of the Peoples Democratic Party visited the centre at different intervals Monday morning.

Mr Ibeabuchi would later yield and declared Mr Okorocha winner of the election. He said the governor polled 97,762 votes while Mr Onyeriri returned second with 63,117 votes.

Mr Okorocha’s old rival and a former senator, Osita Izunaso, came third with 30,932 votes.

What happened?

It was not immediately clear why Mr Ibeabuchi initially refused to announce the remaining results on Sunday night but later did on Monday “under duress.”

When contacted, INEC spokesperson in the state, Emmanuella Opara, said the commission was following the development and had sent security personnel to bring Mr Ibeabuchi to Owerri.

“Let him come back here with his report and tell us what happened.”

Mr Onyeriri, who is a sitting member of the House of Representatives, later alleged that the returning officer was held hostage throughout the night by Mr Okorocha’s supporters after a directive from the REC to “stop the collation and return to Owerri.”

He said Mr Ibeabuchi stopped the process after observing “the whole results were rigged and inflated in favour” of the outgoing governor.

“Throughout the night, they used several means to compel the returning officer to go ahead with the wrong results.”

He further described elections in the zone as heavily rigged by Mr Okorocha, saying he would not accept the results.

“In Ideeato South, he brought all collation officers to his house and compelled them to write results on his behalf. The number turned out was far behind the number captured by smartcard reader.

“He also colluded with some RAC techs to make the smart card readers not to work to enable him to do normal registration, hence inflation of voters.

“I want that results to be changed because I will not accept them. I am the actual winner. In law, if the returning officer says he can no longer continue, you cannot force him.”

The election was adjudged by observers and participants to be fraught with irregularities such as ballot snatching, invasion of polling units and harassment of voters by thugs.

Shortly before the governor’s arrival, PREMIUM TIMES reported how a journalist, duly accredited to cover the polls, was harassed and briefly detained by the thugs in Mr Okorocha’s polling unit at about 10:14 am.

This happened in the presence of two female police officers at the centre.

Premium Times

Featured

Stay Away from CBT Centres, JAMB Warns Parents, Threatens Arrest

Published

20 hours ago

April 18, 2024

Eric

As this year’s Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) begins on Friday, the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has vowed to arrest parents found near any Computer-Based Test (CBT) centre during the 2024 UTME exercise.

The directive was issued at the final briefing of the CBT centre owners, which was held virtually on Wednesday, 17th April, 2024.

The spokesman for JAMB, Fabian Benjamin, said this directive became necessary following the intrusive disposition of some parents during the Board’s previous exercises.

Benjamin, who quoted JAMB Registrar Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, said any parent, who disobeys the order would not only be arrested but his ward would also be disqualified from sitting for the examination.

Oloyede explained that this measure became necessary as it has been discovered over time that many of these intruding parents are facilitators of examination infractions while others have, by their actions, disrupted the Board’s examinations in the past.

He added that some miscreants also disguise as parents to infiltrate the centres to perpetrate all forms of infractions.

“The Board’s helmsman noted that going by the extant national policy on education, a candidate for the examination must have attained the age of 17 years.

“Therefore, it is evident that these parents had not allowed their wards to pass through the classes as defined in the document, hence the desperation to follow their wards to the examination venue with the aim of compromising examination officials.

“At any rate, it is clear to any discerning observer that these parents deserve to be sanctioned as they had obviously ‘smuggled’ underage children into the ranks of those scheduled to sit the examination,” the Board note through a statement.

Furthermore, the Registrar said all arrangements have been concluded for the conduct of the 2024 UTME, which will be held in over 700 CBT centres across the nation.

He disclosed that the Board expects a seamless exercise but it has nevertheless made adequate provision to tackle any technical glitch that might occur in the course of the examination.

He, however, warned that if a session experienced any technical challenge, candidates in subsequent sessions would be allowed to sit their examination as scheduled while the candidates in the challenged session would be rescheduled for the last session for the day or the following day or even further depending on the centre schedules.

Featured

Oyo Govt Demolishes Operational Base of Yoruba Nation Agitators

Published

20 hours ago

April 18, 2024

Eric

The Oyo State government, on Wednesday, demolished a building serving as the operational base of the Yoruba Nation agitators led by Modupe Onitiri-Abiola, in Ibadan.

Onitiri-Abiola, one of the widows of late Bashorun M.KO Abiola, had declared the creation of the so-called Yoruba Nation in a video posted online, which has been widely condemned.

Last Saturday, some armed men in military uniforms invaded the Oyo State Secretariat, with the motive to forcefully take over the State House of Assembly, before they were dislodged by the combined efforts of police and troops for the Nigeria Army 2 Division..

Mr. Fatai Owoseni, Special Adviser on Security Matters to Governor Seyi Makinde, confirmed the demolition of the house located at Toye Oyesola Street in Ibadan South West Local Government Area.

Already, no fewer than 29 suspects – including a lecturer – arrested in connection with the foiled armed invasion were on Wednesday arraigned by the police before a Chief Magistrates’ Court in Ibadan.

In a case with charge number Mi/520c/2024 between the Commissioner of Police and the 29 suspects, they were accused of a seven-count charge of treasonable felony, unlawful society, illegal possession of firearms, and conduct likely to cause breach of peace.

Inspector Bakare Rasaq, the Investigative Police Officer (IPO) at the State Criminal Investigation Department, Iyaganku, Ibadan, said the offence contravenes, and is punishable under Section 516 of the Criminal Code, Cap 38, Vol. II, Laws of Oyo State of Nigeria, 2000.

Featured

PDP BoT Queries Damagum, Anyanwu’s Continued Stay in Office

Published

20 hours ago

April 18, 2024

Eric

The Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party has queried the continued stay in office of the party’s acting National Chairman, Umar Damagum, and National Secretary, Samuel Anyanwu.

Recently, many party members have raised concerns about the ongoing tenure of Damagum and Anywanwu in their respective positions.

Previously serving as the PDP National Deputy Chairman (North), Damagum assumed the role of acting National Chairman following the court’s suspension of the party’s National Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, in March of the preceding year.

With the National Secretary being selected as the PDP candidate for the Imo State 2023 governorship election, the South zone has been grappling with nominating a replacement. Despite this, he, along with other party leaders, contested and retained the position of party secretary after losing to Governor Hope Uzodinnma.

The Punch