By Christian Ogbonna
Mr Emmanuel Ezeh, candidate of the Labour Patty (LP) in Ebonyi’s Abakaliki/Izzi Federal Constituency election of Saturday led protesters to INEC office in Abakaliki on Monday to protest alleged manipulation of election results.
The protesters hoisted placards with inscriptions ranging from: “our votes must count’’, “say no to rigging’’, “Labour Party has won in Ebonyi’’, “Nigeria is our own’’, “count every vote’’ to “respect our voice’’.
Ezeh called on INEC to cancel the election result in the interest of justice and in the interest of the good people of his constituency.
He blamed INEC for conniving with another party to mutilate the election results from his constituency.
“Today, we have come to protest over the manipulation of election results for my constituency by INEC Officials.
“The agents of the other party hijacked the results at the local government collation centre.
“I have found out that my results from Izzi Council have been mutilated; at a point agents of the other party actually took control of the process.
“Today we are protesting in the interest of peace. Let justice be done and let the results be cancelled. Our mandate must return to us,’’ he said.
Reacting to the protest, INEC’s Resident Electoral Commissioner in Ebonyi, Mrs Onyeka Ugochi, urged the protesters to remain calm and assured that the Commission would verify the results and act accordingly.
“We have heard all your complaints and I am assuring you that INEC will verify the results,’’ Ugochi said. (NAN)
