‘Far from fair’ — Frank Nweke II reacts to Enugu guber poll

Frank Nweke II, the Enugu governorship candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), says the March 18 election in the state was not free, fair, and transparent.

Nweke II, in a post on his official Twitter handle on Friday, described the poll as “an assault on democracy”.

The APGA candidate also accused the Labour Party (LP) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of vote buying using “packets of noodles and as little as N500” to sway voters.

He said the poll was chracterised by a “multitude of infringements on our democratic process, an assault on our desires, and our hope for our great state”.

“I will begin this address by thanking you for the warm welcome into your homes, businesses, and digital spaces throughout the duration of the gubernatorial campaigns. Your investment of hope and trust in my candidacy was a constant boost of inspiration for me and my team. It remains so even today,” Nweke II said.

“The elections have come and gone, and with it, a multitude of infringements on our democratic process, an assault on our desires, and our hope for our great state. I celebrate everyone who came out to participate in the democratic process in spite of the challenges, threats, and intimidation reported across the state.

“Your determination is a sign of the awakening that has taken place, and I encourage you to keep your hope alive. Do not despair, and do not be discouraged by the unfortunate challenges that have beset our current democratic experience.

“I often said during my campaign that I would offer my congratulations and best wishes to whoever emerged in a fair and transparent manner. This election was far from fair and certainly not transparent.

“The most vulnerable and impoverished became prey to vote buying by the People’s Democratic Party and the Labour Party with as little as N500 or packets of noodles in some places.

“At Udenu, both parties competed for the votes of our people with N2,000, a plate of Jollof rice, Okpa, and a bottle of soda. I feel ashamed that this is what our people are worth to some who seek to lead them. I am even more embarrassed by the so-called enlightened citizens who have lost sight of the implications of these actions.

“The PDP also secured the assistance of the INEC agents to rig the election, offering cash or issuing threats as the situation demanded.

“Only a few polling unit agents uploaded their results directly on IREV as provided by INEC, and fake result sheets were used to rewrite and manipulate the results of vote counts at the polling units before the falsified results of the elections were uploaded to the IREV. Some of these result sheets are also completely blurred on the portal.”

With 17,983 votes, Nweke II came third in the election behind Chijioke Edeoga of the Labour Party (LP), who scored 157,552 votes.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Peter Mbah of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the winner of the election.

Mbah scored 160,895 votes to win the election.