A factional candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Ifeanyi Araraume has insisted that Frank Ibezim did not participate in the Imo North Senatorial by-election, held last Saturday.
Araraume in an interview, maintained that Ibezim was disqualified by the party’s screening committee, while his disqualification was upheld by the appeal panel.
He added that Ibezim was also disqualified by a Federal High Court in Abuja, on the eve of the election and was duly served, alongside the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and APC.
Araraume who noted there was no appeal against the judgement before the election, submitted that the implication is that Ibezim did not participate in the by-election.
“I am very sure that Okigwe Zone will soon have a representative at the Senate. That was why they came out en masse to vote for me, because they know that with my experience, we will be able to recover lost grounds within very short time”, he stated.
He berated leadership of APC for incessantly fielding candidates who always get disqualified, as was the case in Bayelsa, Zamfara and other places, adding that the leadership of the party should sit down and assess the way they are handling affairs of the party.
Speaking on the governorship of the state, Araraume rated the performance of Governor Hope Uzodimma very low, while condemning incidences such as flogging protesting pensioners, incarcerating a legislator, among others.
He said being an APC government, they (stakeholders) were ready to work with the governor, but submitted that the governor must change his style and stop taking every person in the state as his ‘house boy’.
