Some 500 members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ebonyi, on Wednesday trooped out to the party’s state secretariat in Abakaliki, to reject the outcome of the governorship primary of the party held last Sunday.
Bearing placards which read: ‘Say no to fake lists’, “Prof. Odoh is our choice in Ebonyi”, “We don’t want fake delegates from Ikwo and Ezza South”, “On prof. we stand” and so on, the protesters registered their grievances at the secretariat.
They alleged particularly that the delegate lists from Ikwo and Ezza council areas were doctored.
The protesters appear to be supporters of Prof. Bernard Odoh, who came second in the contest with a total of 519 votes, as against 785 votes garnered by Sen. Sonni Ogbuoji, who was elected the flag-bearer.
The aggrieved APC members led by Mr Samchi Mgbada, alleged that the delegates list from the aforesaid council areas were manipulated to favour a particular candidate.
Prof. Odoh had earlier at a press conference rejected the outcome of the primary election, alleging fowl play in the entire process.
He alleged that the delegate lists used by the electoral committee did not emanate from the congresses of May this year.
Meanwhile, Ogbuoji at a press briefing at his campaign office in Abakaliki, dismissed Odoh’s position on the outcome of the poll, alleging that he endorsed the delegates list which emanated from the national secretariat of the party.
“At that point we had a challenge before us. We now asked that the National Legal Adviser of the party be reached for him to explain to us why we have Certified True Copies that were not the same.
“But he insisted that the list from Abuja was the valid copy as far as they were concerned. “At that point it would be openly said that they denied knowledge of the one in the state isn’t it?
“At that point, Odoh who was seated at the front row raised his hand and said that this exercise cannot afford to be in futility; and so, the national body that has come must be allowed to do their job.
“That we are wasting our time here; that we should allow them to do their job”, Ogbuoji said.
Meanwhile, a senatorial aspirant for Ebonyi Central zone, Chief Enyi Enyi, has threatened to resist the contentious delegates list should the electoral committee attempt to use it for senatorial primary election.
