Senator Athan Achonu, the governorship candidate of the Labour Party in Imo State, expressed concern on Saturday, stating that democracy is under attack in the country following the conduct of the election in the state. He decried the alleged high level of electoral manipulations that reportedly occurred during the election.
Achonu highlighted instances where INEC staff allegedly refused to sign or upload results. He claimed that the intervention of security operatives was necessary for the uploading process to commence, suggesting challenges with transparency. The candidate emphasized the efforts made to resist what he described as a plot to subvert the will of the people.
“In so many places, it is either the INEC staff refused to sign the result or refuse to upload. You saw what happened here. It took the intervention of security operatives who came here before they started uploading the results,” Achonu stated. He also pointed out alleged issues with the availability of result sheets in certain areas.
Achonu asserted that despite attempts to thwart the election results, the masses were resisting such efforts. He claimed a massive groundswell of support for his candidacy and urged INEC to declare the results accurately without manipulation. The candidate accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) government of attempting to change the election results, calling for transparency in the electoral process.
He concluded by stating, “Democracy is under attack, but we are resisting it. That is why you see all these people here so that we can have proper democracy and good governance. Of course, INEC must cancel everywhere this madness occurred and order a rerun.”
