Group urges APC leadership to reclaim electoral mandate in South East
The Directorate of Agro and Commodities of the APC Presidential Campaigns Council (PCC) has called on the party’s leadership to reclaim the stolen mandates of its candidates in the just concluded general elections.
The directorate in collaboration with Coalition for Good Governance and Change Initiative Center for Leadership Legacy International, and United Arewa Movement for Peace and Good Governance made the call at a news conference on Tuesday in Abuja.
Alhaji Abdullahi Bilal, National Coordinator, United Arewa Movement for Peace and Good Governance while addressing journalists, said APC leadership must stand by its candidates to reclaim their electoral mandates.
This, he said, was especially with regards to those that were already in court to reclaim their mandates, especially in the South East.
He, however, congratulated all the Governors, Senators, House of Representatives members and State Houses of Assembly members-elect on the APC platform in the just concluded general elections.
He said APC’s victory at the polls was a validation of its performance since it assumed power in 2015, adding that there were, however, challenges arising from the elections that must addressed.
Bilal noted that the opposition who lost elections in most parts of country had continued to raise fake alarm that the elections were rigged.
He added that the APC’s silence on the stolen mandates of some of its candidates was disturbing, saying there was need for the party to speak for them.
According to him, some of the party’s candidates were outrightly rigged out through vote suppression, intimidation and obvious manipulation of elections results.
This, Bilal said, was especially with regards to the party’s female candidates who had sacrificed so much for it and gave their best during the campaigns.
“While we commend the recent steps taken by some leaders of the party during the Adamawa elections to protect Sen. Aishatu Binani’s votes, we want to see more of this action.
“For many frontline and dedicated members of the party, who contested for various elective positions but were denied victory arising from rigging by the opposition political parties.
“We are asking that the party stand strong for them, to ensure that they reclaim their stolen mandates without further delay, especially, in the prosecution of their cases before the Election Petition Tribunal.
“In the next few weeks, we will detail some of the shocking irregularities, abuses and fraud that we have uncovered with concrete evidence during the Presidential and National Assembly elections,” Bilal said.
This, he said, was why the groups were also calling on the judiciary to live up to its manifest mandate.
He said most outstanding case in view was that of House of Representatives Deputy Chief Whip, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, representing Isikwato and Umunneochi Federal Constituency.
He recalled that Onyejeocha was the only APC stalwart in Abia who openly identified with Sen. Bola Tinubu, the President-elect and stood on the podium to campaign with him during the presidential campaign across the region.
“We want to say that the party must stand up and reclaim all its stolen mandates in the country,” he said.
He specifically called on the party’s leadership to step in to ensure that Onyejeocha reclaimed her stolen mandate, adding that stakeholders in the region had finalised modalities to challenge the outcome of elections in the South East.
He described the election of Isiukwuato and Umunneochi Federal Constituency as a sham and charade, saying if allowed to stand, would thwart the resolve of the majority of the people of the constituency and set a bad precedent for future elections.
“While Onyejeocha has so far approached the court to challenge what members of her constituency have termed robbery hatched against her.
“We maintain that the APC leadership at all levels rise to the occasion to retrieve her mandate and that of many others who contested on the platform, but were robbed of their mandates through widespread malpractices.
“Vote suppression and falsification of results as witnessed in the South East.
“The APC should and must make every move to reclaim its stolen mandates, even if it means setting up a committee from the existing Presidential Campaign Council to review what transpired during the elections,” Bilal said.
