All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for the just-concluded Aba North/South Federal Constituency by-election, Hon Mascot Uzor Kalu, has urged his supporters and APC members to accept the result and remain calm.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Hon Chimaobi Ebisike, winner of the by-election held on Saturday.
In a statement, Hon Kalu said the by-elect1ion was over and appealed to APC members to accept the outcome of the elections in good faith while appreciating them for making the party stronger in Abia.
He said while the PDP wanted the election at all cost , “we chose life over bloodshed and therefore won lives and lost the polls. To us, that was a m victory.”
Hon Kalu said the level of thuggery, violence and rigging that occurred in the election called for a deeper review of the country’s electoral laws.
“Every country is peculiar to its people all Nigerian should support the electoral laws that is being amended as it would assist us in getting our democracy strengthened. The electoral laws as it is renders the security agencies with arms weak in the face of violence at the polls and therefore needs a revisit. Granted that the armless police should be inside the polling units, the armed should be within 50 meters away from the units,” he said.
Hon Kalu accused PDP of flooding Aba North/South Federal Constituency with thugs numbering over 20, 000, while traders were threatened with text messages to keep away or lose their lives.
He said: “My campaign officers and our party agents were kidnapped, even the Resident Electoral Commission (REC), Prof Joseph Iloh, was manhandled by thugs at the Abia polytechnics.
“We campaigned vigorously and Aba people were expectant of improvement from what the late Ossy Prestige of blessed memory did. My only concern is that Aba people lost. They lost a quality representation and chance to have added infrastructures in Aba.”
The APC candidate said he was winning in more than 400 polling units “and they kept using thugs to harass the INEC officials and scare our voters. Our voters ran for their lives. In a city with over 497,000 voting strength, less than 15,000 votes were recorded in the entire election.”
He commend the INEC and security agents whils congratulating them for their services and the risk they took to protect the citizens.
“I also thank the National Chairman of the Caretaker Extraordinary Committee, His Excellency, Gov.Mai Mala Buni, Aba North and South Party Chairmen and all our party faithful for their support in the election” Hon Kalu said.
He said despite the fact that he and APC has “enough evidence to reclaim our mandate, we won’t be going to the court. This is to allow the declared winner to concentrate and provide good representation and infrastructure to the good people of Aba.”
He thanked Aba people for coming out en masse to vote for the APC and I congratulated the winner, Chimaobi Ebisike and the PDP, “not because they won but because it’s gentleman to do so.”