A House of Representatives aspirant for Ughelli/Udu Federal Constituency of Delta state, Julius Efeni Akpovoka, on Tuesday raised the alarm over alleged plots to manipulate results of the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC) primaries in the constituency, which, he claimed, he won.
He said he had already tabled the case with the ADC Secretariat and other stakeholders, including the national leader of the party and a former Governor of Bayelsa State, Henry Seriake Dickson, who assured that he would get justice if there are incontrovertible evidence that he won.
According to him, he emerged winner of the NDC primary election for the constituency but the committee that handled the exercise is allegedly attempting to doctor the results against him.
Akpovoka at a press briefing in Abuja therefore called on the national leadership of the party to prevail on the Delta state chapter of NDC and the election committee to ensure that the results of the primary are not tampered with for the integrity of the process and the party.
He said, “My appeal is for the committee to do the rightful thing of what transpired from the field, to put my name there so they will not go and manipulate any figures to destroy the party’s name. Because the party anchors today in Nigeria is on integrity.
“So, that integrity must play out right now by the people sent to go and conduct this election. So, they should not go and turn figures around and give us different figures.
“All the votes were counted and based on this counting, my figure was the highest figure in Ugheli North, in which I scored 1,205. My nearest person that is close to me is Chief Dr. Christopher Ominimini, who scored 205 votes. That is the nearest person that is close to me.
“In Ugheli South too, the same thing also transpired. I scored 350, while Christopher Ominimini scored 285 of Ughelli South, the returning officer there is Victor Ohare, he was my co-counsellor. I was surprised to meet him on the field.
“Then, the one of Udu, I scored 283, while the person’s higher vote there is 305. He defeated me with about 18 votes or 20 votes.
“So when you sum up the three figures together, the total figure of the three local areas, I scored 1,840. While Christopher Ominimini scored 560. The third person scored 315. That is the full summary of the result.”
Akpovoka acknowledged the assurances of the national leader of NDC, Senator Henry Seriake Dickson and former Deputy Senate President, Ovie Omo-Agege that they would ensure the right thing must be done as far as primaries was concerned.
The NDC House of Representatives aspirant said if the party declared him winner of its ticket, he would defeat the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the constituency.
“I ran an election with my opponent before when we were in APC. I defeated him in the primary but this kind of thing that is trying to happen now, that was what happened that year. My name was put on the ballot in 2019. I won that primary in APC.
“In terms of popularity, in terms of canvasing vote, in terms of who reached out to the people, to the voters. He’s not even up to 10% of me. And the party, knows that. Yes, I can do it. So I have the capacity, and the character, and the competence to win the election for the party.
“To me, APC is not a match to me in my federal constituency. Once you give me the ticket, before 11 o’clock, not 12 o’clock, I have won my election”, he emphasized.