Anambra: Why I won’t justify Jega’s jumbles – Nwoye on november 27, 2013 at 12:35 am in anambra elections, politics By Emmanuel Aziken, Political Editor Comrade Tony Nwoye, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP gubernatorial candidate in the Anambra State gubernatorial election made his name as National President of the National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS. Following that, he was chairman of the Anambra State chapter of the PDP. In this interview he gives his perspectives on the controversial gubernatorial election that took place penultimate Saturday. Excerpts: What are your plans for the supplementary election? My friend Victor Umeh has summarized everything and the election has been won and lost according to him. He said that our participation does not add anything or remove anything and I agree with him. I cannot, I cannot and I am talking as myself and my supporters we are not part of it. If Jega wanted us to participate he would have done the needful, and he still has the opportunity to do the needful as required by the Electoral Act and conduct a free and fair election. A situation where most of my supporters where harassed, beaten up, and not even by only political thugs but also by security agents, an election where many people were disenfranchised, where results sheets were not produced and Jega decided to uphold it and say he is going to do supplementary. Tony Nwoye Exercising franchise He has not cancelled anything, he has not attended to any of my petitions, so if anyone says he is going to contest, he can go ahead, me I am not participating. That is my stand. I am sorry if my stand is hurting anybody but that is my stand after I have consulted widely and looked at issues.So, the summary of the thing is that I am not participating. How did you feel when you didn’t find your name in the voters register? I was shocked. You know it was an INEC staff that called me to tell me. That polling booth has more than 900 voters, but why I was not so shocked was that a friend working in INEC called me that my name is not in the register, that they have removed my name from the register. Since I was born and started exercising my franchise as a young man, that is the polling booth I have been voting and there is no election in Nigeria that I didn’t vote in that polling booth. The INEC voter’s card was the one I used to fill PDP form for 2011 House of Representatives contest, was the one I used to fill the PDP governorship form and INEC governorship form for this election. So, where did I get the card from? I was captured, my name was in the register but suddenly they de-listed my name and that of my family members, my townspeople and not only in my home town where 3,000 persons were disenfranchised, but across the state. So somebody expects me, just because Prof. Jega wants to justify such an irregularity. Remember my background in activism. So my stand is that I am not going to be part of that sham called supplementary election. Some allege that you may have been careless by not checking your name during the review of voters register? I checked and the name was there. But how could it be? I have been voting since I attained the mandatory age of 18 at that polling unit and all of a sudden when I was running for governor I could not vote and somebody says carelessness. How could I have been so careless? They intentionally decided to disenfranchise over 2,900 persons in my hometown and they also went to other areas where PDP is strong like in Auguleri they used security agents to harass people not to vote. I have left everything in the hands of God. You say they, who are the they? INEC and security agencies in collision with APGA and this was something that they did in places they felt APGA was not strong enough. You don’t play the hand of the PDP Federal Government in this? I am not aware of that one. But everybody should search his or her conscience. What message will you tell your supporters? Let them remain calm, whatsoever God wants is what will happen. Let them have faith in God as we have good intentions to transform Anambra State. If God says that we are going to be governor, we will be governor. If God says we are not going to be governor no matter what we do or struggle, we will not be. I feel so much for my supporters, they came out to vote for us and not just the ones that were disenfranchised, but what especially pained me was that some were wounded and harassed by APGA agents and security agents.
Posted on: Thu, 28 Nov 2013 07:06:30 +0000
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