The candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, in the Enugu North Senatorial bye-election, Oscar Ossai, has rejected the outcome of the election, which held last Saturday.
Ossai in a release made available to newsmen said “no election took place”. He said after a review of “the shambolic conduct of the so-called by-election, I state with unimpeachable conviction that no valid election was conducted”.
According to him, “It is the unanimous verdict of the leadership of the NDC agents, accredited observers, stakeholders, and the betrayed people of Enugu North. The process was a mockery of democracy. It failed every test of credibility, transparency, and fairness. Therefore, I reject in totality the fraudulent ‘result’ announced by INEC.”
He alleged that reports from across the six LGAs reveal a coordinated assault on the will of the people, noting that “The irregularities were systemic, deliberate, and criminal”. He claimed that BVAS was not used in accrediting the voters.
Quoting his, “Where BVAS machines were functional, results were willfully refused transmission despite verified network coverage. This was not negligence. It was a design. There are brazen discrepancies between scores announced at polling units and the fictitious figures smuggled in during collation. This is not error. It is forgery. Widespread, shameless vote-buying and voter inducement across almost all polling centres, reducing the sacred ballot to a market commodity.”
He also cited documented violence, intimidation, harassment, and gun-related threats against voters and agents, adding that “Citizens were brutalized and maimed for attempting to vote.” He also mentioned alleged diversion, thumb-printing, and manipulation of ballot papers and original result sheets in flagrant violation of the Electoral Act 2022. He further alleged that card-carrying members of the APC were deployed as INEC ad-hoc personnel.
“These were not isolated glitches. They were a blueprint. Their cumulative effect makes a mockery of any claim that the declared outcome reflects the will of Ndi Enugu North Senatorial District. What INEC presented was not an election result. It was the script of a broad-day robbery and the violent rape of our democracy,” he stated.
He expressed worries that INEC, an institution funded by taxpayers to protect democracy, “has become the instrument for its assassination”. “If this level of impunity is normalized in Enugu North Senatorial District and it stands today, then no constituency in Nigeria is safe tomorrow,” he said.
He said his legal team and the NDC had activated a forensic documentation process of the exercise. Quoting him, “We are collating certified polling unit results, BVAS accreditation logs, video evidence, and sworn affidavits from victims. This evidence will be presented before the Election Petition Tribunal, security agencies, and the court of public conscience.”
He urged INEC to launch an independent, transparent review of the electoral crime scene, and “prosecute every official complicit in this heist”. He also called on security agencies to investigate every report of violence and bring the perpetrators to justice.
He thanked the people of the senatorial district for their courage, resilience, and support. “I share your pain, your anger, and your determination,” he stated. “Do not despair. Do not be provoked into violence. We will fight this battle to the last legal breath. We will reclaim this mandate through lawful means. Your faith in a New Nigeria is not misplaced.”
THE WHISTLER reports that APC’S Ikeje Asogwa won the election with 162,360 votes, followed by PDP’s Dr Nestor Ezeme, who garnered 9,299 votes. NDC’s Oscar Ossai scored 3, 129 votes to come third.
The bye-election is to elect a senator for the district to serve out the tenure of the late Senator Okey Ezea, who died last year.
