Two major political groups in Anambra State have called for the cancellation of the governorship primary of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in which Tony Nwoye emerged victorious.
The two groups expressing their dissatisfaction over the electoral process are Buhari Support Group, (BSG) Anambra State chapter and Coalition of Civil Society Groups (CCSG).
In different petitions to concerned authorities, the groups said the process of the election was fraught with malpractices.
They therefore called on the national executive of the APC to declare the election null and void.
The BSG’s position is contained in a petition to the national chairman of APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, and signed by its Anambra State Coordinator, Dr. Emeka Nwaofor and Secretary, Chief (Mrs) Stella Obiora.
Similarly, The CCSG’s threat is contained in its petition to the Director-General of Department of State Security Service (DSS), Mamman Daura.
The petition was signed by the group’s president, Etuk Bassey Wiliams, and Secretary-General, Ibrahim Abubakar.
In its petition, the Buhari Support Group said with the emergence of Nwoye as the candidate, the chances of APC winning the Anambra State governorship election was slim.
“As loyal members of the APC who participated in the last gubernatorial primaries of our dear state, we write to call for review of the process that produced Tony Nwoye as the candidate of the party in the forthcoming November election.
“Our reason for this call is borne out of sharp malpractices which contravene the electoral act perpetrated by him which include but not limited to financial inducement and swapping of delegates.
“Another reason behind our call that the process should be reviewed is the calibre of his main sponsor. His sponsor, Chief Arthur Eze, is a sworn enemy of Mr. President as we all know he was a major sponsor of the former President Jonathan.
“He once swore that he will never support our amiable party; we are thus taken aback when the same man is now sponsoring same candidate that he sponsored in 2013 with the aim of amassing wealth…
“We thus urge the appeal panel to look critically into this; if this is not done, we might not have better option than mobilize our members to do anti-party by supporting another candidate.”
On its part, the CCSG declared: “We wish to conclude in expectation of justice that if no significant step or action is taken we shall approach a court of competent jurisdiction to compel the party to do the needful.
“The party principles should not be undermined and swept under the carpet. Elections are for people that have good pedigree and justify their capabilities; they must have track records of achievements and not self-seeking individuals who have maintained the role of spoilers in every election.
“We assure you of our readiness to provide all necessary evidences with respect to all the allegations contained in this petition as we attach overleaf copies of some evidences.
“A panel of inquiry should be set up to look into the elections. There should be total re-verification of the delegates list as used in the primary elections for authentications through a confirmation process by the known state structure of the party with national exco maintaining the observers status.”
