A pressure group within the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC), the Ebonyi Integrity Group (EIG), has raised alarm over an alleged plot to influence the outcome of the party’s yet-to-be-announced primary election for the Ebonyi Central Senatorial District.
The group alleged that powerful political interests were making moves to compromise key stakeholders and alter the integrity of the exercise, which saw former Ebonyi State Secretary to the Government, Prof. Bernard Odoh, and businessman, Arch. Christian Asaga Nwali, contest for the party’s senatorial ticket.
In a statement issued on Monday in Abuja and signed by the group’s State Coordinator, Chief Maxwell Onwe, and State Publicity Secretary, Friday Ogboji Nweke, the organisation urged party leaders and stakeholders to resist any form of inducement capable of undermining the credibility of the primary election.
The group specifically alleged that a former Governor of Ebonyi State, who is also a serving member of President Bola Tinubu’s cabinet, was linked to efforts aimed at influencing the outcome in favour of a preferred aspirant.
“We have reliably gathered through rumours from the grapevine that a former Governor of the State who is a godfather, mentor, financier and a serving member of President Bola Tinubu’s cabinet is allegedly at the centre of coordination of bribery and corruption of stakeholders and officials of the opposition NDC with a whopping $300,000 to do the bidding of his preferred aspirant and political godson,” the statement alleged.
According to the group, the alleged development followed what it described as a failed attempt to influence members of the party’s national electoral committee sent from Abuja to conduct the exercise.
The EIG further claimed that the chairman of the election committee was allegedly abducted from the party secretariat during the process before being released following pressure from party stakeholders.
“We recall that this is coming after he failed to hijack the National Electoral Officers of the Party from Abuja that came to conduct the election, whom the same forces had allegedly compromised, with the Committee’s Chairman abducted at the Party’s Secretariat but later released due to mounting pressures from some of the Party’s stakeholders,” the statement said.
The group alleged that the objective of the purported abduction was to take the committee chairman to an undisclosed location where election results would be manipulated in favour of a particular aspirant.
“We were sufficiently informed that the dubious plot was actually to take the abducted Chairman, whose phone was switched off immediately he was whisked away from the Party’s Secretariat on the behest of one of the aspirants, to an unknown destination where the results of the election would be written and the billionaire businessman returned elected even without going into the field for any contest,” it claimed.
According to the group, intervention by the national leadership of the party and pressure from stakeholders reportedly led to the chairman’s release, after which the primary election proceeded across the various local government areas.
“However, because the national leadership of the Party prevailed on the State Chairman of the Party and others to approach the DSS and make a formal entry about the incident, pressures then mounted from stakeholders which eventually compelled the release of the hitherto abducted Committee Chairman. It was only thereafter that aspirants proceeded to the field for the primaries in their various Local Government Areas,” the statement added.
While expressing confidence that the NDC leadership would ultimately uphold the integrity of the process, the group said it was disturbed by reports of alleged last-minute attempts to influence the outcome from Abuja.
“Whereas this group had remained calm and hopeful that the Party’s leadership would do the right thing by declaring the eventual winners not only in Ebonyi Central but other contested positions within and outside the State, we are seriously disturbed by the allegations of late-hour bribery filtering in from the nation’s capital, Abuja allegedly involving a powerful minister in Tinubu’s cabinet,” it stated.
The group said it monitored the conduct of the primaries across Ebonyi Central and appealed to party leaders, including former governors and ministers, not to compromise the process.
“As a group which monitored the peaceful and peaceable conduct of the exercise across Ebonyi Central and beyond, we beckon on the stakeholders, especially the former Governor of Ebonyi State and former Minister and indeed every stakeholder in the Ebonyi NDC project to please resist any attempt to collect any bribe from any quarters in order to compromise the long-awaited final results of the election,” the statement read.
The EIG also cited the integrity of the party’s presidential candidate and other national leaders as reasons why the process must remain transparent and credible.
“We make this warning against the backdrop of the personal integrity of our Party’s Presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, the national leader, Sen. Henry Seriake Dickson and indeed other leaders of the Party that have shown reputable character, integrity and honesty both in and out of public offices,” it added.
The allegations come as the NDC prepares for a crucial National Executive Council (NEC) meeting scheduled for Tuesday, during which the party is expected to deliberate on and announce the outcomes of primary elections conducted across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory ahead of the next phase of the electoral process.
As of the time of filing this report, no official response had been issued by the individuals referenced in the allegations.
