APC Aspirants Cry Foul Over Benue Reps Primaries, Demand Justice

From Dooshima Terkura, Makurdi

Two aspirants who contested in the recently concluded House of Representatives primaries for the Otukpo/Ohimini Federal Constituency in Benue State, Mr.

Lawrence Onoja and Mr. Andrew Agbo Abu, have described the exercise as fraudulent, alleging that votes were allocated.
Lawrence Onoja, son of retired General Lawrence Onoja, made the allegation while speaking with journalists at the APC secretariat where he, alongside others, submitted a petition over the conduct of the primaries.
The duo alleged that election materials were first taken to the residence of the Deputy Governor in Otukpo before they were handed over to Blessing Onuh, daughter of former Senate President David Mark.
According to them, the materials were later moved to a hotel where figures were allegedly written and allocated.
Onoja stated that zoning had always been practised in the constituency, noting that Ohimini and Otukpo had traditionally produced representatives for two terms each. He said Otukpo was completing its second term and expressed dissatisfaction that the arrangement was allegedly being undermined.
He said: “Zoning has always existed in the constituency. It has been two terms for Ohimini and two for Otukpo. Otukpo is finishing its second term. Unfortunately, the incumbent is someone who has been boasting that she has the money to buy it all and, to a large extent, she has succeeded in doing that.”
Onoja further alleged that no accreditation of members or agents took place during the primary election.
“On the day of the primary, when everyone had gone into the field for the election, first of all, there was no accreditation of members or agents. Nothing was done and the materials were taken to the residence of the Deputy Governor and handed over to Blessing Onuh. She then went to Ochacho Hotel, room 006 to be precise, where they sat and wrote all the results,” he alleged.
He claimed that the figures announced were unrealistic.
“She claimed that I scored 925 votes, whereas in my own ward during the mock election, since materials did not come there, I scored more than that. She gave herself 17,000 votes, but if you go by the records, the total number of registered voters for both Otukpo and Ohimini is slightly above 15,000. So how did she score 17,000?” he queried.
Onoja insisted that no valid primary election took place in the constituency.
“I am here to state categorically that there was no primary in Otukpo/Ohimini. No materials were taken to the local governments. We are bitter and insist that the party’s internal processes should be adhered to.
“I have been a party man for 27 years and a member of the APC since its inception. We expected the party hierarchy to call me if such a thing happened, but to allow such a fraudulent act to take place is very callous and unfortunate,” he said.
He also stated that many people in the constituency were unhappy with the outcome of the exercise.
“The electorate is very angry and there was even a protest in Otukpo insisting that it should be Ohimini’s turn. If Blessing is so honoured, they should give her something else like minister or senate seat, but what we rotate, it is not right to shortchange Ohimini as a whole. This is my grouse over the matter.
“I have submitted my petition and I am hoping justice will be served. It is gross misconduct and a violation of party and INEC regulations. Announcing results in a private place is wrong. We appeal to the national secretariat to take this issue seriously. If zoning is applied in some cases, it should also apply in another,” Onoja added.
Also speaking, Andrew Abu condemned the development, describing it as an abuse of democratic principles.
He said: “Some persons think they are too powerful, so they absconded with election materials to a hotel while our supporters were waiting eagerly for the primaries to take place.
“My appeal to the national leadership of the party and Mr. President is that we cannot condone this injustice. The seat should be rotated and we have the general election ahead. If the party is not careful, it may suffer defeat.
“They should address this anomaly because, as far as I am concerned, there was no primary election but an illegal selection in the Ohimini/Otukpo Federal Constituency.”