Senator-elect for Abia North, Chief Mao Ohuabunwa, has dismissed allegations of poll rigging during the March 28 National Assembly elections in the zone, saying that he won fair and square.

Ohuabunwa, while briefing newsmen in Umuahia yesterday, insisted that the ballot was the most peaceful in the history of the zone and was conducted within the confines of the law.

The two-time representative of Arochukwu/Ohafia Federal Constituency maintained that the Senatorial Collation Officer for Abia North, Dr. Ihekwaba Chukwugozie, exposed his ignorance about the conduct of elections when he said he had recommended a re-run of the polls. Ohuabunwa stressed that Chukwugozie’s duty was just to announce the results collated from the field and submitted to him by field officers.

“A Returning Officer has no business with election conduct. His own is to announce the results as collated. He didn’t even move out from where he was. So how can you say there was problem in Umunneochi, how? You see, when people compromise themselves, they wouldn’t know when they get stupid. The Returning Officer is not the Presiding Officer, not a Polling Agent, not the Electoral Officer, not even the ward collation officer, he was just the Senatorial Collation Officer. He has exposed his ignorance,” Ohuabunwa said.

Giving an insight into what led to the delay in announcing the result of the poll and why it was announced in Umuahia, he explained that it was for security reasons as the inability of the collation officer to show up on time created tension.

His words: “What really happened why we left Ohafia to Umuahia was because the collation officer did not come on time to declare the result and you know the tension as usual, because people, after voting, brought in their results in the morning, waited from morning till night against the next day. Definitely, you can appreciate that there will be tension and because of that tension, then, they had to bring the police to evacuate us to Umuahia and the essence was to give the collation officer for Ohafia the cover to finish because every other result from the other four local governments were ready and we were brought there just to give us the security for Ohafia to collate their result as already gotten from the field. That was done. “When issues were raised about reviewing the exercise, INEC, just in their magnanimity, because I felt by law, it wasn’t necessary to review, did that. After about three or four days, the result was released and those results are intact and free for anybody to see.

“So, I don’t see why people should be making unguarded statements and propaganda. These are people we know their antecedents before now. I mean you can’t fool the people all the time and you can’t take us for granted,” the former leader of ECOWAS Parliament said.

Ohuabunwa claimed that he defeated his main challengers, including former Governor Orji Uzor Kalu of Progressive People’s Alliance and Chief David Ogba Onuoha (Bourdex) of the All Progressives Grand Alliance because he has a better pedigree.

He commended the people of Abia North for the confidence they have reposed in him, assuring that he would not disappoint them.

•Photo shows Mao Ohuabunwa.