The Imo State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, or PDP, has announced that it is prepared to take part in the next local council elections, which are scheduled for this Saturday, September 21, throughout the state’s 27 LGAs.

On the other hand, it pledged to oppose any attempt at manipulation by the ruling All Progressives Congress, or APC.

Four days before the planned council election, the Imo State Independent Electoral Commission (ISIEC) was accused of showing a flagrant contempt for its own norms, according to a news release sent out by the party’s media secretary, Lancelot Obiaku.

The party asserted that it is a blatant sign of what he called an opportunistic scheme by the APC government led by Hope Uzodinma to rig the results.

The party’s media secretary reiterated that the party is prepared to take part in the election, but she insisted that ISIEC follow its own rules and hold a legitimate local government election.

According to the statement, the PDP’s State Chairman, Hon. Austin Nwachukwu, accused ISIEC of inviting the party’s candidates for Chairmanship and Councillorship to its State headquarters, demanding N50,000 and N200,000, respectively, instead of publishing the voter list in the wards as required by law, even four days before the election.

First and first, we would like to make it clear that the PDP in Imo State is ready and prepared to hold the state’s proposed local government elections wherever and whenever ISIEC decides to do so. We have completed our homework in its entirety as a party. The electorate has overwhelmingly endorsed our candidates for chairmanship and councillorship, and they are optimistic about winning. There is no secret here,” he said.

He claimed that the Uzodinma-led government was so unpopular that it was experiencing anxiety in the lead-up to the State’s council election.

Today, we want to make Nigerians aware of the wrongdoings and foul play that the electoral commission and the Uzodinma administration are committing, particularly among the people of Imo.

“The issues are as follows: Chief Charles Ejiogu, the Chairman of ISIEC, and his entire delegation of Commissioners informed stakeholders during our most recent meeting with the leadership on August 8, 2024, that they had received an invitation from the heads of state security to address security concerns related to the election.

The ISIEC Chairman informed us during that meeting in Oguta that security chiefs had voiced concerns about the safety of people and property on election day, particularly in light of recent violent attacks and security lapses that resulted in the deaths of at least 20 innocent people and the destruction of properties valued at over 1 billion Naira.

According to PDP, the ISIEC Chairman has not yet informed the political parties of the results of his meeting with

We debated and failed to come to an agreement on the fees for DF001 and DF002 (the candidates for chairmanship and councillorship) in that same meeting.

In order to maintain impartiality, the announcement added, “We also discussed the recruitment of ad hoc staff to ensure they are not card-carrying members of any political party, particularly the Returning and Collation Officers.”

The press secretary added that ISIEC has since neglected to call another meeting with the parties to advise them on the matters at hand, and that the party was unable to come to an agreement over the date or deadline for submitting the names of party agents to the commission.

To our surprise, nevertheless, on the evening of September 16, 2024, we learnt of a paper that was supposedly from ISIEC and signed by the Chairman, calling candidates to visit its Orlu Road office for verification.

“We were shocked to see that ISIEC was simply requesting N50,000 from candidates running for councillorships and N200,000 from those running for chairmanships in lieu of the alleged validation when we went to look into it this morning.

“We find it shocking that ISIEC has not yet provided the legally mandated formal briefing to political parties or made any information about these issues public.

In what portion of the globe does an electoral commission interact with candidates without enlisting the support and endorsement of the candidates? This is not authorised by law and is illegal. The fact that these activities go against ISIEC’s own policies is even more concerning.

The Imo people and all Nigerians should be aware that the State administration and ISIEC are not interested in holding a fair election; rather, they are only interested in manipulating it. However, I believe that people won’t let this happen. The administration has a history of threatening the people of Imo, stealing election materials, fabricating results, and breaking electoral laws. But it won’t stand this time. It’s enough.

We want to stress that the APC and its leaders are rigging the election behind the scenes, even though the Imo PDP and its candidates are ready and well prepared for it. All we want is that ISIEC hold a free, fair, and credible election in accordance with its own criteria.

It is astonishing that the identities of the candidates and voters in each ward have not been released by ISIEC less than four days prior to the election.

“As a party, we have complied with all Electoral Act requirements by adhering to all relevant procedures for nominating our candidates in line with ISIEC’s recommendations and timely submitting their names to the commission.

Before the APC government sets the State on fire once more, we stress that the right thing must be done and that it must be done quickly,” the PDP said.