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The first runner-up in the just concluded Anambra State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship primary, Dr. Obiora Okonkwo, has rejected the outcome of the exercise.
Okonkwo, who is also the Chairman of the United Nigeria Airlines, alleged that the outcome of the exercise held on June 26, as announced by the Edo State Deputy Governor, Philip Shaibu, was not a true reflection of the desire of the majority of delegates.
The aspirant made this known in a statement, in Awka yesterday. Okonkwo who polled 58 votes, lost to the eventual winner, Valentine Ozigbo, who polled 62 votes.
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He said, ‘From the result announced by the Committee led by Mr. Philip Shaibu, the deputy governor of Edo State, it is obvious that the outcome of that exercise did not reflect the wishes and desires of the people. Just like you, our campaign team, expected a different outcome which would be a true reflection of the reality on the ground.
‘Obviously, there were a number of serious issues and irregularities regarding the primary election. First, in response to a very late court order barring elected delegates from participating in the primaries, the National Working Committee of the party decided, at the last minute, to limit the voting to a small number of statutory delegates.
‘But even with that, the list of the statutory delegates kept changing with no explanation of the criteria used to exclude some hitherto approved delegates while adding new ones, some of whom are not eligible under the party’s constitution.
‘As people at the venue, including journalists, would attest, the confusion over the authentic list of super delegates delayed the commencement of voting by several hours.
‘A full week after the primary election, nobody has satisfactorily explained what happened to the other 17 votes cast by duly accredited delegates.
Okonkwo concluded by saying, ‘We expect those who conducted the election to provide the answer to this obvious discrepancy, particularly given the razor-thin margin of victory of the declared result.’
THE EASTERN UPDATES
