Imo State, Nigeria – Twenty-seven candidates running for the Imo State House of Assembly on the platform of the Labour Party (LP) have accused the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of planning to rig the upcoming state constituency elections.
In a statement released on Wednesday in Owerri, the candidates alleged that the APC was planning to use young people to manipulate the Biometric Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and write results for the party.
The LP candidates called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, to ensure that credible elections are held by summoning the staff in the state to order.
They also urged the leaders of the security services to give their employees orders to remain impartial before, during, and after elections.
According to the LP candidates, the plan is to bribe and compromise the Imo INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner, Electoral Officers, Supervisory Presiding Officers, and security agents in all 305 wards of the state to avoid using BVAS on February 25, 2023, write the results of most of the Imo LGAs in the Government House Owerri, declare the results, and dare the opposition candidates to file a lawsuit.
The LP candidates stressed that the results that INEC would declare should be subject to the people’s will, and that elections must be conducted at all designated polling units in Imo state on March 11, 2023, in line with the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the provisions of the 2022 New Electoral Act.
They insisted that INEC officials designated for all the polling units in Imo state must be at their duty posts on or before 9 am on March 11, 2023.
However, the state APC spokesperson, Cajetan Duke, denied the allegations made by the LP candidates, stating that they were untrue.
