- Delta State Governor, Emmanuel Uduaghan
As
controversy trails last Saturday’s Delta Central Senatorial
bye-election, Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan is alleged to have doled out
the sum of N5million to state chairmen of moribund political parties in
the state to give the election a clean bill of health at a press
conference today.
About 19 chairmen converged at the state
secretariat of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Asaba for the
conference, led to the event by the Special Adviser on Inter Parties
Relations, Mr. Taju Isiche and the Special Adviser to the Governor on
Education Monitoring, Mrs. Rhoda Ikede.
Confiding in our
correspondent, one of the party chairmen said they received their 30
pieces of silver following the press conference at the office of Mr.
Isiche. Each of them received a miserly N50,000.
At the event,
perhaps under promises of vaster riches if they sang very loudly, they
described the election as “the most transparent, free and fair election
in our recent history.”
Declaring the press briefing open,
Isiche, who ordered photographers to turn off their cameras, admonished
the party chairmen to comport themselves in an orderly manner and to be
of good behaviour in front of the journalists.
Before Isiche’s
admonition, a mild drama had ensued between the Inter Party Special
Adviser and some party chairmen who insisted that the SA should take a
seat with them at the high table but he vehemently resisted, stating
that he was not supposed to be among them in the first place.
Addressing the press on behalf of the group, the leader of the group and
state chairman of a moribund ACPN, Mr. Paul Isamade, stated that
earlier in the day, the party chairman met in an emergency gathering
where they decided that the election should be given a clean bill of
health.
“We commend INEC for the conduct of a transparent,
free and fair election in which the PDP candidate, Chief (Hon) Emmanuel
Edesiri Aguariavwodo polled a total 263, 024 votes to emerge the winner
of the senatorial seat.”
They also congratulated Governor Uduaghan
for what they described as “his role in ensuring a safe conduct of the
most transparent, free and fair election in our recent history.”
The communiqué was signed by 19 party chairmen: Oke Idawene, SDP; Joe
Chukwu, ADC; Efe Tobor, MPPP; Moses Abeh, APA; Chidi Odogwu, NNPP; Ngozi
Ogbogo, AD; Paul Isamade, ACPN; Victor Egwuenu, PPN; Jude Eze, KOWA;
Nelly Nwaka, AA; David Ebrunu, ACD; Ashikodi David, Accord Party; Peters
Emuakpoje, CPP; Oluremi Mohammed, PDC; Anyanwu Ikechukwu, NCP; John
Freeman Ghiadike, NPP; Tony Eboka, APGA; and Val Chichi, UDP.
Noticeably
absent were the All Progressives Congress and the DPP. They did not
append their signatures to the communique, either.
The parties
present also congratulated the Nigeria Police force, State Security
Service (SSS), The Nigeria Civil Defence Corp’ and the military for what
they called the maintenance of security law and order before, during
and after the election, and called on all parties to the election to
unconditionally accept the results as already announced by the electoral
commission.
Curiously, not only could the chairmen not
answer several questions thrown at them by the journalists, they
contradicted themselves in several ways.
Some parties whose
candidates had rejected the results of the election were also in
attendance. One of them was APGA chairman Tony Eboka, whose candidate,
Chief Lucky Omoru, had vowed to go to the tribunal after earlier
rejecting the results. He made himself a laughing stock as he failed to
answer questions put to him to reconcile his role and involvement in
endorsing the results after his candidate had called for cancellation of
the election.
The last may not have been heard of the apparently rigged press conference.
Lamented
one chairman who spoke to our correspondent, “Each party chairman was
given N50,000 each only but we learnt what the governor made available
for this deal was more than what the SA gave us because he is fond of
cheating us. In his office a source confided in us that the governor
released the sum of N5million and if you calculate everything given us
is not even half of what was released.”
If the purchasing price of
the press conference by the governor was actually N5m, it means that
the double-crossed party chairmen were shortchanged by an average of
over N213,000.
