The All Progressives Congress, APC, in Ebonyi State have described as “shambolic” the processes and the outcome of the last Saturday governorship and House of Assembly election in the State.
DAILY POST reports that the party’s position was made known by its guber candidate in the State, Senator Sonni Ogbuoji.
He expressed sadness over alleged killing, maiming, hurting, kidnapping and brutalizing of citizens during the electoral process “by those that brutishly foisted their selfish interest on the people.”
The guber candidate said Gov. David Umahi, who was re-elected at the polls, had all along being a mole in the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and was now perfecting moves to defect to the APC before May 29, a situation he said would be resisted.
Ogbuoji spoke in Enugu, Wednesday, at a press briefing, where he told journalists that what happened in Ebonyi was a mockery of democracy.
The full text of his speech below:
“We have viewed and assessed the developments of the gubernatorial and House of Assembly elections of our dear state and the experience the people of the state went through in the name of democracy that was actually mocked.
We were not in a hurry to make our position known until we have got all the facts, consulted widely and taken accounts and discoveries from our members, candidates and supporters.
As a result, we have decided to make some facts public and clarify impressions about what happened that fateful day the state and its democracy history can never forget.
We can simply describe it as a day of reckoning when two things happened; The people of the state by coercion decided against a happy and assured future; The people were chained to a post for the interest of the few that called the bullying shots.
We therefore reject in its entirety, the shambolic exercise, the processes that led to it and the result or outcome
One of the major issues that need to be explained is that there was never a time I Senator Sonni Ogbuoji ran the election with any intent to deceive, front for or be a clone to or operate in the shadows of anyone that ran the race.
From my conscience, I stepped into the race for very candid reasons and I said it very often that it was unthinkable that I was a mole for somebody also contesting in the same state for the same position or any position for that matter.
For the records, I spent and invested my resources; from time to personal convenience, not sparing anything, not even one, and there is no person, no matter how unreasonable that accepts to suffer himself and risk the roads and the air to feather another person’s interest even as a grandfather, like I did.
I want to disabuse the minds of the members of the party, my supporters and all Ebonyians that I ran the race from my mind and gave the best I can afford. I never set out or worked to deceive or betray anyone or acted in skewed conscience
Let all that hear me, including the party members, leaders and supporters have it clear in their minds that whatever went wrong or I didn’t handle according to your expectations was partly from human inadequacies or other factors that I would not put out for public consumption.
Again, I remind Ebonyians that as a two-term senator, I went to the senate twice all through the endorsement of the people and the party and never by any individual that may sit on his high horse to lay claims to that, as such claims are against verifiable facts.
I still can’t reckon whatever anybody would have paid me or funded my election with that is more than what I had on my own. The logic behind this illogic is that if any person or some people paid me for the race, I would have peacefully utilized the money in the comfort of my home and family rather than risking my life and taking the pressure of campaign for months when I should be home in the comfort and company of my grandchildren, children and wife.
Again, I state without equivocation that I gave all to support my party and candidates even when I made it clear to all from the beginning that running from the opposition has challenges, especially vying against an incumbent that is also a candidate.
What rather happened as all party insiders know is that the APC in Ebonyi worked so much against itself. By this allusion, I don’t indict all the members or leadership, I am actually talking about the moles among us that double dealt and made things impossible for us while they cloaked like part of us.
I am aware also of those among us that desired the change we targeted to bring, seemingly worked for it but in the actual sense worked in contrary direction and deliberately frustrated the change they claimed to belong to.
A clearer picture of this is the information we have now that while the governor of Ebonyi State, David Umahi, had acted as a mole in PDP all along, he has started making moves to ditch PDP and cross over to the APC on before May 29.
We are aware that the votes that enthroned Umahi were procured with the connivance of the system, a reason there are gloomy faces all over the state after the announcement of the claimed victory.
With this, I also commend and doff my hat for those committed members and leaders of our party, APC that worked assiduously to ensure we made it big and good.
I want to assure you that even with the gang-up, I and the party gave a good account of the outing and made the ruling party understand that Ebonyi people can’t be taken for a ride
I therefore call for consolidation and stronger bond in the party, and that none – including the candidates should despair in the face of the development of this rape of democracy.
Consolidating a new system takes tenacity and resolute steady effort to achieve and our great party should not relent in giving our dear state the opposition and checks we need in order to stop gangster politicians riding roughshod over our future
What happened to us is a good lesson that for a team to win, it must work as a team and with purposeful target.
Most of all, I would assure that I and the leadership of the party have resolved in respect of the outcome of the charade election that we the APC in the state, will sacrifice our convenience, overlook our victimization and bend backwards in any lawful way to support every step that would foster the peace, progress and good leadership of the state.
I further make clear that I will continue to make personal contributions in any conceivable way that will ensure the smooth leadership of our dear state.
At this point, our hearts go out to those citizens of the state that were killed, maimed, hurt, injured, kidnapped, brutalized and denied their rights that day by those that brutishly foisted their selfish interest on the people.
And to those that felt they did the right thing and made the right choice that historic day, we wish them well and leave it to tomorrow to judge us all.
We pray for the good of Ebonyi State to become that state of our dreams that would assure a better world for our people, the sole reason for which we wanted power.”
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