The governorship campaign organisation of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Imo State has allegedly uncovered another plot by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to manipulate the November 11, 2023 election.
The party said it has credible sources that revealed that the party under the leadership of the state governor Hope Uzodimma has allegedly imported over 4,500 pre-loaded Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) into Imo state to rig the election.
In a statement made available to newsmen, which was signed by the Director of Media and Publicity of the organisation, Ikenna Onuoha, stressed that information available to them further shows that over 223, 000 figures have allegedly been loaded into the BVAS machines, while awaiting election day to be activated.
“Our investigation also indicates that the pre-loaded BVAS machines were used in the last Presidential and National Assembly Elections in Ebonyi State.
“It is imperative to inform the public that our investigation shows that the Resident Electoral Commissioner for Ebonyi State, Onyeka Pauline Ugochi is allegedly facilitating this illegality, in connivance with her Imo State counterpart, Prof Sylvia Agu,” the party said.
In his reaction, the commissioner for information and strategy, Hon. Declan Emelumba, described the allegation as the figment of the imagination of the PDP.
He said, “This accusation is tantamount to distraction as we are focused on winning the governorship election.”
Emelumba advised the PDP and its candidate, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, to concentrate on their campaign and not to cry wolf where none exits.
But the PDP insisted that another prime suspect in the illegal deal is a senior INEC official from Mbano, but married to an indigene of Mbaitoli LGA, all in Imo state.
The opposition party said, “She knows herself and the role she is playing. Imo people will not hesitate to arrest anyone seen committing a crime during this off-cycle election and thereafter, hand over such arrested suspects to the law enforcement agents for prosecution in line with sections 39 and 40 (1) of the Nigeria Police Act of 2020.”