Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Imo has dismissed claim by the National Secretary of the party, Samuel Anyanwu, that the money for the presidential and National Assembly elections in state was misappropriated.
In the statement, which has now been published in some sections of the media, Anyanwu accused Imo PDP leaders of sabotage during the elections.
But in its reaction, PDP said: “In as much as we respect the person of Anyanwu and the office he occupies, it is necessary to always set the records aright. Also, PDP is in opposition in Imo State, and so it relies chiefly on popular confidence and acceptability to reclaim its stolen mandate.
“Therefore, the attempt by Anyanwu to cast a slur on the reputation of the party and the integrity of our leaders is most unacceptable.
“Yet, because the claims contained in the statement made by our national secretary are not just effectively dubious but also completely untrue, Imo PDP is deeply worried about the interests which the Amaimo-born senator intends to advance through such barefaced misinformation.
“For the avoidance of doubt, Anyanwu was in attendance during the last stakeholders’ meeting of the party on Thursday, February 23, 2023 where issues of appropriation of resources and disbursement thereof for the prosecution of the presidential and National Assembly elections in the state were agreed upon. The framework adopted by stakeholders was handed over to the Finance Department of Presidential Campaign Council for implementation.
“In line with this framework, the logistics for the elections in each local government area was given to a team of stakeholders from that council, which included the apex leader of the council, the chairman of the party in the council, the chairman of the campaign council in the council, the candidates from the council, a national, zonal and state officer of the party from the council and other party stakeholders from the council.
“Till this day, the party has never received any complaint of any sort of deviation from the generally-agreed framework. One begins to wonder what could have informed the outburst from the national secretary.
“If there is anything, Imo PDP finds really troubling, it is the fact the our presidential candidate scored only 10 votes at Obodo Central School in Amaimo, Ikeduru council, which is the polling unit of our national secretary. This is extremely difficult to explain.
“It is also worrisome that despite the hues and cries that have trailed the elections in Imo State, our national secretary has been most unwilling to lend his voice to the agitations by Imo PDP for the electoral process in Imo to be sanitised and the culprits in the February 25 electoral fraud be brought to book. We had expected the national secretary to deploy his strategic position to draw attention to some of the indefensible electoral malpractices in the state.
“For instance, our victory in Nkwerre/Isu/Njaba/Nwangele Federal constituency is being sat upon by Imo’s rampaging petty-dictator in cahoots with his corrupt enablers within Independent National Electoral Commission. Our senatorial victory in Imo North was also glaringly truncated. In areas where elections never held because of insecurity, results were allegedly written for the All Progressives Congress (APC).
“For Imo East senatorial district, where our party was coasting to victory, results were rewritten and swapped in Owerri Municipal just to halt our victory. Worse still, over 50 polling units in Mbaitoli and Owerri West were excluded from the final collation. For Orlu, Orsu and Oru East, the incumbent APC took advantage of the insecurity in the areas and diverted election materials and wrote results for themselves. These issues are fundamental, as they touch on the very integrity of our electoral process.
“We, therefore, call on our national secretary to join hands with us in our clamour for justice in these cases. Turning around at this point to level allegations of sabotage and misappropriation on party leaders in Imo is a disservice to the party, which obviously sabotages our efforts to remain united so as to spiritedly fight for the retrieval of all mandates brazenly stolen from us by the unelectable APC.
“Our leaders and members across the state are enjoined to remain focused and resolute, aware that no effort shall be spared in our quest for credible elections in Imo and in reversing the injustices meted out to our victorious candidates at the polls.”