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The Chairman of the All Progressives Congress in Ebonyi State, Mr. Stanley Okoro Emegha, has slammed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), for allegedly stepping down the name of the state governor, David Umahi from the shortlisted APC senatorial candidates stressing that it was wrong of the electoral umpire to do so.
Emegha who made this known while speaking to journalists in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State on Tuesday, said the stepping down of the governor’s name was not done by the national leadership of APC but was a minor error from the INEC.
He said, ‘I went there, it was a minor error from the INEC side and it has been corrected. There was nothing like that, the governor’s name did not come, it wasn’t coming from the party, and the necessary things were done. The stepping down of the two candidates that contested for that senatorial election was there with the party and INEC.
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He went further to state that ‘INEC was invited for the re-conduction because there was enough time for the party to re-conduct another primary election that will usher in another person. And the time was actually met, the re-conduction of the election was done, the video clips are there, all the necessary security agencies and the ministries that were supposed to be there were there on the day of the re-conduction of the senatorial candidate primaries of APC in Ebonyi south.
‘And then, a panel was set up at the national secretariat Abuja and they arrived. we took them to Afikpo which is the venue for such conduct, they did all the necessary things, and the delegates that were supposed to participate in the primaries were all there.
‘Mind you, the particular column was blank, so there wasn’t an issue. If you like, they can still forward a list of the states that had issues and the possible substitution they made, because the national office of the party can not afford to leave any particular space vacant.
‘Anybody carrying any news is carrying it on their own. But I went to Abuja, I called them and asked them why I’m seeing and hearing such stories on social media, they traced it and saw where it was coming from and it was immediately corrected.’
While speaking on the reason for the re-conduction of senatorial primaries of Ebonyi south, Emegha said: ‘Austin Umahi pulled out to concentrate on his business’.
‘It is not a substitution, it was a re-conduction of primaries, he said it will tie his business down’ he stated.
