Abia State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has called for the immediate sack of the state INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Dr. Joseph Iloh. This is even as they also called for the removal of the Commissioner of Police, in the state, Mr. EtimOkon.
Addressing journalists in Aba, APC State Publicity Secretary; Comrade Benedict Godson also called for the cancellation of the Abia Central Senatorial District poll.
Godson said they no longer have the confidence that the REC would conduct free, fair and credible election after Iloh was said to have allegedly held a private meeting with the immediate past governor and Abia Central Senatorial candidate of the PDP, Senator T. A. Orji that lasted for 30 minutes in Umuahia.
He said the party does not want anyone to truncate the will and wishes of Abia electorate who have made their choices and wondered why a former governor and a candidate in an election would pay visit to the INEC REC at this time.
In his reaction, the former Governor T. Orji while expressing worries on why his moves are always misinterpreted said “By the time I went there, voting has not started and nobody knows the person that will win. How can my visit affect the outcome of results? I went there to complain that materials have not come to my unit. INEC is a public office that any person can go to. Have they ever complained about the visitation of other candidates of various elective positions to the INEC office? Whenever I go there (INEC Office), it becomes an issue. Because of what you people say and write, I won’t move out; is that what you are saying?
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“In my own unit, as at 1:30pm, election materials haven’t come. I was worried and people were worrying me. Who will I go to complain to if not the Resident Electoral Commissioner? That was what I went to do. Ask the REC and I told him that I am going to write a petition and that we have lost up to 4-5hrs into the election. I told him that I want to recover the lost hours in the election; that they have to extend the time, not knowing that INEC will later extend it. That is what I went there to do.
“Why is it that my movement is always misinterpreted? When the Resident Electoral Commissioner came to this state, every politician went to pay him a courtesy call. The day I went, it was everywhere in the news that I went there to share money. Since then, I have not been there. Are you not aware that electoral materials arrived late to different polling units?
“People came out, but in my local government; Umuahia North, people were disappointed not only that election didn’t start at the appropriate time, materials were not there. INEC adhocstaff were equally not there. We campaigned and sensitized people and they came out to vote. Somebody will leave his house by 7 O’ clock and by 1 ‘O Clock, the person is yet to vote because there were no material and election officers.
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