…the era of writing results outside polling booths is gone – Nwankpa
PETER OKORE, Umuahia
The Abia state chapter chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Chief Donatus Nwankpa, has vowed that Nigerians will resist any results of the 2019 general elections written in a private residence and brought to the premises of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, and merely given to the State Returning Electoral officer to announce to the public.
To this end Nwankpa has assured that political parties and voters will be battle –ready to protect all votes cast at the elections , pointing out that every vote in the forthcoming general election Must count. He, therefore, urged the INEC, police, military and para-military outfits that will be deployed to maintain peace and orderliness during the elections to ensure they discharge their assignments as diligently and without compromise.
The APC-boss, who spoke during his maiden interaction with newsmen in Umuahia, the Abia state capital, after his inauguration at Abuja by the National Chairman of APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, as the authentic state chairman of the APC in Abia state, said that the change of both leadership and style of governance in Abia state have, as he put it, become inevitable.
“Rigging had been the practice here, for many years. We will resist it in 2019. Gone are the days when leaderships were imposed on states through rigging. This time the APC is going to see that the votes are truly counted. The change we want in Abia is going to transcend the mentality of Abians, infrastructure, developments, economic and well-being of the people and more.
“Never again will people without conscience govern Abia state. APC has no candidates yet in Abia. All we have are aspirants, while we resort to prayers for God to give us mature and credible candidates who will give victory to Abia and glory to God. But we will give equal opportunities to all.
“At the moment, Abia APC is taking its time to resolve all its lingering problems, which I regard as family disagreement. The 7-man panel, headed by Chief Onyemaobi, which was set-up to resolve our differences in Abia would soon submit its report”.
Answering a question, Nwankpa explained that those of them clamouring for the re-election of President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019 are doing so on full conviction that that the era is a divine providence to safe Nigeria from collapse or from economic disaster.” We are following Buhari because he has conscience, mature and disciplined as required by the exigencies of the moment”.
Said he:”As a result of the anti-corruption stance of Buhari, the rate of display of squander-mania, flamboyancy, affluence and stealing of public funds, by public officers and civil servants have reduced. The activities of the EFCC, ICPC and recently, the Special Presidential Investigating Panel, SPIP, are checkmating the excesses among Nigerians now. Because APC is rooted on discipline, we can no longer go back to era of affluence and carting our wealth to foreign countries.”
On incessant killings by Fulani herdsmen and the general insecurity in the country, the party-boss remarked that they did not start with the Buhari-led administration. He, however, described them as challenges of the present administration, stressing that efforts were in top gear to solve them.
He further hinted that Buhari was aware of the inequality in appointments to Federal Government positions, including the appointments of Service chiefs, adding the very soon the situation would be normalized at the security council level.
