Protesters have stormed the Anambra State Government House, also known as Light House, Awka, on Friday over the outcome of the primary election of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA.
Thousands of protesters from Oyi Local Government Area of the state converged at the government house with placards, asking the state governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, to intervene in what they described as brazen rigging of the Oyi State Constituency primary election.
They claimed that while a popular candidate, Innocent Ojike, also known as Ojicam, had won the election, they were surprised to find that the party announced another aspirant, Mr Kosisochukwu Ibemesi, as the candidate to represent the party for the Anambra State House of Assembly election, next year.
Since APGA held its party primaries last Saturday, several groups and aspirants have rejected the outcome, claiming that the processes were manipulated in many constituencies, while those who emerged victorious have praised the process as being transparent.
The State Auditor of APGA, Uchenna Oraegbunam, who led the protesters, said: “We are here for a peaceful protest to let our governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, know some of the things that happened in Oyi State Constituency last Saturday.
“We had a very peaceful protest and elections were declared, and Ojicam, Hon Innocent Ojike, the current member of the Anambra State House of Assembly was declared winner. We were all confident that he was going to win because we know he is popular.
“We were all surprised that when the party released the names of candidates that were successful, what we saw was the name of Mr Kosisochukwu Ibemesi. This is a surprise to us, and we want anyone who said that Ibemesi won the election to come and prove it.
“It is highly embarrassing that this can happen in my constituency. I’m a stakeholder in this party and if such could happen anywhere, it should not be in my constituency,” he said.
The protesters who marched from the Anambra State House of Assembly through the Dr Alex Ekwueme Square ended up at the Government House, where they changed protest songs to register their discontent.
Some of the placards read: “Please bring back our popular candidate, Ojicam”, “Mr Governor do not let this happen in Oyi,” “Our candidate for the election is Ojicam, he won the election”, among other inscriptions.
The Deputy Chief of Staff to the Governor, Dr Okechi Vincent Egbuna who addressed the protesters, assured that the governor will look into their request, assuring that the governor likes to be just and fair in his dealings.
He also admonished the protesters to chronicle their requests in a letter and send copies to the governor, the party leadership and the appeal panel, assuring that their demands will be addressed.
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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