IN a bid to ensure that the all the total votes cast in favour of the All Progressives Congress (APC), candidates at all levels were safeguarded, the Imo State governor, Chief Rochas Okorocha, on Sunday, summoned all the agents and appointees of the government in the electoral process, to the Imo International Conference Centre (IICC), Owerri.
According to a statement signed by the Chief of Staff, Government House, Owerri, Jude Ejiogu, the governor who is the governorship standard bearer in the state, also directed them to attend the closed door meeting with him with all the results they obtained at the various polling booths across the 3,050 polling units in the state.
Also, the Imo State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Chief Chidi Ibe, has narrated his ordeal in the hands of security operatives on the election day.
According to him, he was arrested at his ward Ihenworie, Ahiazu Mbaise for unknown reasons and made to sit on the floor for about seven hours.
But when The Guardian contacted the Imo State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Andrew Enwerem, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (PPRO), for comments on the allegation, he said the command headquarters in Owerri was yet to receive such reports.
He promised to brief The Guardian if such gets to his table.
Okorocha’s Senior Special Assistant, Security, Okechukwu Okorocha, a lawyer, and four others had been arrested and paraded before journalists in Owerri last Friday, over alleged illegal possession of arms and ammunitions.
The governor accused the police of playing out script to hoodwink his camp.
As at the time of going to press, results of the Presidential and National Assembly elections were being awaited.
Meanwhile, the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives; and the Imo State standard bearer of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Emeka Ihedioha, has expressed misgivings over the reports of some malfunctioning card reader machines across the country.
Ihedioha, bared his mind shortly after casting his vote at Mbutu, Aboh Mbaise polling unit , urged the electorate to remain peaceful and law biding while discharging their civic responsibilities.
“In some areas , it has not been successful, but I have been accredited. It is obvious that because of our technological difficulties, we are not yet there, because you can see that the accreditation time is lagging behind . “It is not as efficient as it should be, but I thought it should have been done on a micro scale to try the card reader process .
“I don’t think this process will give us what we wanted. I believe that at the end of the day, Independent National Electoral Commission could have combined the manual accreditation and electronic voting, but yes, this process calls for great improvement.”
