Pamela Eboh, Awka

The national chairman of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and the party’s Senatorial Candidate for Anambra Central in the March 28, 2015 national assembly election, Chief Victor Umeh, has filed a petition at the National Assembly Election Petition Tribunal, Awka, challenging the declaration of Mrs. Uche Ekwunife of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the winner of the election.

Umeh said that he was not desperate to become a senator but chose to challenge the outcome of the polls in order to defend Nigerian democracy and also not to disappoint voters in Anambra Central who cast their votes for APGA en masse.

According to Umeh, he has been inundated with calls by all cadres of people, most of who often cry while discussing the election with him.

He gave assurance that he would prove at the tribunal that Anambra is not a place where fraudulent people could force themselves into elective positions.

“This issue is not about Umeh. It is about protecting the system and with the filing of this petition, I have done what I always do when things go wrong in the electoral process.

“From the Certified True Copies of Form EC8A1 from all the polling units, I won the election convincingly and we have challenged all the manipulations done during the exercise.

“I believe that if the judiciary rises to the occasion, the right thing will be done ultimately. Those who know me can testify that I am not somebody who is afraid of following judicial process because for the past 12 years, I have been fighting electoral fraud against out party.

“We have assembled the vital documents and we will put them to test at the tribunal so that those who claimed victory can prove how they won the election.

“Looking at what happened in the South East during the 2015 general elections, one could not understand why the zone always suffered so much electoral malpractices, while the South West and the North conduct credible elections.

“INEC should not abdicate its responsibility by claiming that it is often overpowered by a certain political party known for committing electoral atrocities,” he said.

Umeh urged the President-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd.), not to hesitate probing the 2015 general elections in the South-East, as well as pursuing electoral reforms that could guarantee credible polls in the country in future.

The voluminous documents were received on Saturday by the secretary of the tribunal, Josephine Ekperobe and her support staff at the High Court complex in Awka at about 6pm.

•Photo shows Umeh