Crisis has trailed the outcome of Uborji Okuku autonomous community of Owerri West Local Government Area of Imo State Youth Presidential Election, held on February 5, 2022.
Speaking, the leader of the Coalition for Social Rights and Good Conscience comprising of persons from the five kindreds that constitute Uborji Okuku community, Mr. Emmanuel Madu, stated that the Electoral Committee Chairman, Mr. Christian Nnanna Ojinnaka (SD), has a candidate who contested in the Youth Presidential Election, Mr. Chimoma Ndukuba, who was adjudged winner of the election, who is also said to be on S.D’s line up of support.
The Coalition said that “S.D allegedly breached the rule of equity of the organization by briefing Ndukuba, his ally, about his formulated electoral norms ahead of the election which invariably influenced the outcome of the election to the advantage of the embattled winner, Ndukuba Chimoma”, alleging that the accredited number of voters in the election did not reconcile with the valid voters, suspecting that some fraudulent activities might have taken place, adding that contestants demanded for the document of the accredited number of voters which it said has not been provided.
Stressing that part of the alleged anomalies of the youth election is the heavy presence of security personnel brought by S.D in the hall where some voters who agitated against the perpetrated nuisance were allegedly manhandled, the Coalition disclosed that “sequentially, a taskforce team was created by S.D which the people of Uborji Okuku rejected because he was exclusively mandated to conduct the election and not to set up any taskforce for the election or eventual winners. It was believed that he had an ulterior motive of dominance and control as one of the contestants in the person of Chimoma Ndukuba is his aspirant of interest”.
The people maintained that “a day to the election, S.D was said to have a secret meeting with the taskforce team S.D created alongside some elders, inducing them with money to aide his preferred candidate, Ndukuba. Mr Christian Nnanna Ojinnaka (S.D) told everyone to stop campaigns prior to the election, but could not stop his stooge from campaigning. On the day of the election, he used a 20-man taskforce team who were invariably machineries in the hall to aid Ndukuba rig the election”.
Thus, Emmanuel Madu, who was a contestant in the Presidential Slot, hinted that he saw all their dastardly voting patterns, but remained calm as a law- abiding citizen in order not to disrupt the exercise, observing that the “in genuine actions in the avenger’s hall of Uborji Amaeke where the voting took place, prompted him to demand for the accreditation documents to no avail.
On 19th of February, 2022, when the office of the treasurer election was held, Mr. Anselm Nlemdim polled 118 votes, Celestine Nwoke (Ojile), polled 65 votes and Mr. Perfect, 51 votes. Therefore, from this result, having sensed Anselm Nlemadim leading with the highest number of votes, the organiser, S.D, conspired to cause disarray because the candidate he supported (Ojile) was losing the election”.
Madu posited that when he “inquired to know about who won the election S.D replied him by reading out the results serially and resorted to disrupting the elections and mentioned that Mr. Anselm Nlemadim was not on his lineup of interest”.
The people they have waited to get the documents of the accreditation and also longing for the Electoral Committee to declare Anselm Nlemadim as winner of the poll, but to no avail, because the winner, Anselm was not in their line up of interest.
“The question in the lips of the concerned persons of the area was, why did S.D allow Mr. Anselm Nlemadim to pick up a form duly paid for to enable him contest whereas he would not be declared winner after scoring the highest vote? Therefore, as a result of all the post election constraints and anomalies, the Uborji Coalition for Good Conscience declared that the elections should be cancelled for fairness to reign at the community”.
