Obinna Odogwu, Abakaliki
Ebonyi Governor, Chief David Umahi, and the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Sonni Ogbuoji, have gone for each other’s jugular over allegations that the APC is plotting to rig the governorship election in the state.
Umahi, who is the governorship candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, alleged that information available to him indicated that the APC is plotting electoral malpractice at the polls.
The governor, who had at different fora, especially at his campaign rallies, spoken about how the opposition was boasting about their alleged plot, lamented that there were plans to commence unlawful arrests of PDP chieftains and supporters in the state.
“Those who think they can rig elections with security agencies, shame unto them. It will not work”, Umahi warned.
In his reaction Ogbuoji dismissed Umahi’s allegations.
He said they were baseless and unfounded and that the APC has no such intention but is seeking the people’s support; through legitimate means.
Ogbuoji, in a statement issued by the Director of Media and Publicity of his campaign office, Mr. Ikenna Emewu, said the PDP are afraid of the past and have lost touch with the electorate.
“I want to tell him that nobody plans any rigging against him.
“He actually rigged the election against himself. I have said it several times that Umahi is afraid of his past.
“He knows how he got to power in 2015 and fears that the tradition still remains,” he said.
In a related development, PDP Chairman in the state, Chief Onyekachi Nwebonyi, has called on the electorate in the state to resist, with their might, any form of intimidation and unlawful arrests on days the general election would take place.
Nwebonyi made the call at a press conference at the party’s secretariat, located along the Abakaliki/Enugu Expressway, and urged the people not to foment troubles but resist any form of intimidation and guard their votes.