Action Alliance (AA), Imo State has blamed its abysmal performance in the Imo North by-election, on sabotage by principle officers of the party.
The party has therefore constituted a five-man panel to investigate the actual cause of its woeful outing.
The panel followed a petition presented by the Isiala Mbano branch of the party at the party’s State Executive Council meeting, weekend, alleging compromise and sabotage during the election.
The panel which is headed by the party’s state Publicity Secretary, Dr. Stephen Anyamele and Hon. Shedrack Anunihu as the secretary, has two weeks to submit its report.
In his remarks, the state chairman of the party, Comrade Ifeanyi Okponwa-Eze, urged the panel to do a thorough job and unmask those behind the party’s poor performance.
According to him, there was no way the party would have posted such poor outing if there was no conspiracy.
“The result of the election did not reflect the popularity of the party in the grassroots. There are allegations of compromise against some of our principal officers, hence the constitution of the investigation panel. And any officer found wanting will never go scot free.
“We are working towards taking over governance in Imo State come 2023, and must not harbour moles in our midst. No amount of rigging or paucity of funds would have brought the party so low in the election, because I was comfortable with the work done before the election proper.
“Personally, I suspect high level internal conspiracy against the party, and that will never thrive under my watch. With the caliber of persons in the panel, I have no doubt that the Augean Stable would be thoroughly cleansed.
“The chairman of the panel, Dr. Stephen Anyamele who is the party’s State Publicity Secretary, is a thorough bred educationist and a retired university lecturer. He is not a greenhorn in the politics of this clime. I am very sure, with him at the head, the panel will deliver.
“I am yet to come to terms with a development where our party’s polling booth agents were not seen at their duty posts when adequate arrangement was perfected to that effect. The officer of the party in charge of that assignment must give explanation on that ugly development.
“The principal officers of the party who wore the deceitful cloak of angels to shortchange the party, might have hinged their actions on pessimism, beclouded by the self induced thought that our candidate was far from clinching victory”, the chairman stated.