The Returning Officer for the Imo West senatorial election on Saturday, Prof Innocent Ibeawuchi, has said that the supporters of Governor Rochas Okorocha, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, compelled him to declare the governor winner of Saturday’s elections.
The result showed that Okorocha scored 97,762 votes defeat the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party Mr Jones Onyereri (68,117), and the All Progressive Grand Alliance’s Osita Izunaso (30,084).
Speaking to reporters after the results were announced on Monday in Owerri, Ibeawuchi said that he was held hostage from 7pm on Sunday till 11am on Monday. He added that policemen and soldiers came to his rescue after the announcement was made.
According to him, he had to make the announcement to save his life. He added that the election was supposed to be inconclusive, because of the electoral fraud in eight LGAs.
He said, “I was compelled to announce the result which was inconclusive. I am a man of integrity and it is not true that the governor slapped me but I was held hostage by agents working for him. I was manhandled and I thank God I came back alive.”
However, Okorocha dismissed the allegations, insisting he deserved to win the election.
In a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Sam Onwuemeodo, the governor described the returning officer as “a bloody liar who may be acting a script”.
He said, “Having won in nine out of the 12 local government areas announced, we heard that they were trying to move the result sheets to Owerri but when we demanded an explanation, the man (Ibeawuchi) said he was tired and didn’t feel safe, when nobody was threatening him. At the end, we discovered that he didn’t have the declaration sheet. I wonder where this is taking us. I hope INEC would change this system because we will resist them if they try it in the next election.”
“They should examine the returning officer to know his mental state. If he doesn’t have a mental illness, then he must be a criminal to ever think of that. How could someone ask you to change the result of an election he has already won? My score is above 90,000 and the nearest to me is slightly above half of it, when you combine both Jones and Izunaso’s votes. They can’t match or contest against me in Imo State not to talk of Orlu zone,” Okorocha added.
“I asked the Resident Electoral Commissioner here to quickly correct these anomalies. The returning officer is a bloody liar who may be acting a script.”
Leave a Reply