From George Onyejiuwa, Owerri
All may not be well within the Imo state All Progressives Congress (APC) as aggrieved chairmanship and Councillorship Aspirants who had lost in the consensus primary election held at the Government House for a refund of their three million and one million they had paid to obtain the party’s nomination forms.
The aspirants also alleged that they were scammed by the party and threatened to protest if their money is not refunded to them within 48 hours.
Coordinator of the Forum and Chairmanship aspirant, Barr Lucky Ikwubuo, who addressed Newsmen at the weekend, said that prior to the sale of nomination and expression of interest forms, the party in a stakeholders’ meeting held at the party’s Secretariat along Okigwe road told aspirants to commence the purchase of forms ahead of a peaceful, fair and credible primary election.
Barr Ikwubuo regretted that after their colleagues had picked the forms with over N3 million, and commenced consultations across wards in their respective LGAs, only for Governor Hope Uzodinma and the party’s chairman, Macdonald Ebere, to inform them that the party would adopt a consensus arrangement.
He maintained that while his colleagues were prepared and awaited for a primary election, a list of selected Chairmanship and Councillorship candidates without any primary election and even the majority of aspirants were excluded from the processes that had led to the purported consensus candidates.
According to him, Governor Uzodinma addressed them and directed that their money be refunded without further delay. He said that by accepting to refund the money used for the purchase of the forms was an indication that there was no primary election contrary to both the Electoral Act and the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended.
Barr Ikwubuo further threatened that his colleagues had concluded all arrangements to embark on a two-day protest on the streets of Owerri to demonstrate against the scamming of their hard-earned money by both Governor Uzodinma and Ebere if their money was not refunded within 48 hours.
However, in a swift reaction, the leadership of the ruling party said that there was no crisis in the party following the conduct of the LG chairmanship and councillorship primaries by the party.
In a statement by Hon Cajethan Duke, State Publicity Secretary of the party, said that the party is not in crisis over the outcome of the party’s primaries.
He said, “The primaries were conducted in a peaceful, fair, and credible manner through a consensus process as recognized by the party’s constitution and adopted by the relevant stakeholders of the party, and the winners have been duly declared.
The claim that unidentified people were produced as chairmanship and councillorship candidates is a blatant lie. The candidates who were duly elected through a consensus arrangement, which is a legitimate process within the party, were members of our party who subscribed to the expression of interest and nomination for the purpose of the forthcoming election.”
He added, “The claim that Governor Hope Uzodinma and the party’s Chairman, Macdonald Ebere, scammed aspirants by refunding their money is a gross misrepresentation of facts. The issue of a refund was a suggestion and opinion of the governor aimed at placating those who respected the consensus arrangement of the party. An opinion which is not a convention in the party democracy in Nigeria, but a gesture of goodwill, was entirely advisory, subject to the consideration of the state Executive Committee of the party.”