• Ohuabunwa holds meeting with INEC zonal commissioner

A political pressure group, Abia North for Good Representation (ANGR), has accused some senior Abia State Government officials from Abia North of plotting to rig Saturday’s election rerun in favour of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Chief Mao Ohuabunwa, through bulk buying of voter-cards.

This is coming at a time when Ohuabunwa was sighted in a hotel where he held a meeting with INEC zonal  commissioner in charge of Abia State in Enugu.

 On the plot to give victory to the PDP candidate at all costs, ANGR said those were involved include the deputy governor, Chief Ude Okochukwu, Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Dr. Eme Okoro; a member of the House of Representatives from Umunneochi, Chief (Mrs.) Nkiruka Onyejiocha and the deputy speaker, Abia State House of Assembly, Chief Cosmos Ndukwe.

 In a press statement yesterday, the group’s chairman, Chief Eme Umah Uko Ndukwo, said that intelligence report ANGR received indicated that Abia State government officials held a meeting last week and, after taking appraisal of the robust campaign of the former governor of the state and Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA), Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu and the massive acceptance of his candidacy, reasoned that the only way to stop him was to manipulate the election.

 Ndukwo said having known that their old ways of rigging would not work out this time, the officials decided that the best thing would be to buy up the voters cards, particularly in areas considered to be Kalu’s strongholds, to prevent people from those areas from voting.

 According to the ANGR chairman, the deputy governor was reported to be mopping up voters cards in Nkporo, his home town, while the SSG’s area of assignment is Ozuitem, equally his home town.

 In the same vein, both Onyejiocha and Ndukwe were said to be involved in a buy-up of voters’ cards at Umunneochi and Item respectively, where they hail from.

The group, while calling on security agencies to look into this, said no amount of voters’ cards buying will stop the people of Abia North from voting for the man of the moment, Kalu, who, it said,jh was the choice of the people.

 The chairman advised Abia North voters not to allow people from other senatorial districts to determine who would represent them at the Senate. 

Meanwhile, Ohuabunwa has held a meeting with INEC zonal commissioner in charge of Abia.

According to the group, the PDP candidate was sighted in an Enugu hotel with the zonal commissioners, saying that it has the video of them coming out of a car and entering the hotel.