By Omeiza Ajayi, Abuja

National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress APC Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC), Governor Mai Mala Buni has approved the appointment of the Governor of Gombe State, Alhaji Inuwa Yahaya as Chairman of the APC Primary Election Appeal Committee for the Anambra State Governorship Election.

The appointment came as seven aspirants in the contest issued a disclaimer on Monday night saying the purported primary election never took place.

National Secretary of the CECPC, Sen. John James Akpanudoedehe in a statement said the Committee will be inaugurated on Wednesday, June 30th, 2021 at the Party’s National Secretariat, Abuja.

Members of the committee are Sen. Julius Ucha, Hajia Maryam Mamu Salifu, and Alh. Bukar Ali Dalori while Dr. Ijeoma Arodiogbu will serve as Secretary.

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“In this capacity, the five-member committee is expected to hear all appeals arising from the conduct of the Primary Election in line with the provisions of our Party’s Constitution and Guidelines for the nomination of candidates”, the statement added.

Meanwhile, seven aspirants of the party have faulted the exercise, describing it as a charade.

They are Chief Edozie Madu, Chief George Moghalu, Paul Orajiaka, Sir Azuka Okwuosa, Chidozie Nwankwo, Onunkwo JohnBosco and Col. Geoff Onyejegbu.

The aspirants in a statement after many long months of actively campaigning in every corner of the State, “on Saturday we mobilised party men and supporters to the designated voting centres and waited from morning till night for elections that did not hold”.

They added that “in the three hundred and twenty-six (326) electoral wards of Anambra State, party members waited for election officers and materials to arrive and for accreditation and voting to begin. In some areas, those materials arrived late in the evening, hours after the polling should have ended, and by which time voters had gone home. In other places, neither materials nor officials came.

“In the evening at about 6pm, eleven of the fourteen aspirants on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) held a briefing with the members of the press to inform the nation of what was happening. At the time of the briefing, elections had not begun in the State.

“The Honourable Minister of Labour and Productivity, and leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Anambra State, His Excellency Dr. Chris Nwabueze Ngige informed both the Chairman of the Primary Election Committee for Anambra State and the National Chairman of the Party, His Excellency Mai Mala Buni of the unfortunate development and also spoke to the press indicating his disappointment that neither election materials nor officials had arrived in his community or any other part of Anambra State to hold elections. The State Chapter of the party, through the Publicity Secretary, Okelo Madukaife also raised alarm about the fact of no elections in any part of the State.

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“Yet, in the early hours of Sunday, 27th June 2021, the Primary Etection Committee for Anambra State led by the Governor of Ogun State, Prince (Dr.) Dapo Abiodun announced purported results and declared a winner. Setting aside for the moment our profound disappointment with the abominable conduct of Dapo Abiodun and the Committee he led, let us State categorically and with the highest confidence that the results announced Sunday morning are figments of the imagination of the announcers and have no basis in reality. What we are witnessing now is a show of shame that ridicules all of us, and further erodes the standing of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Anambra State, and the South East of Nigeria.

“We have gathered evidence including pictures and videos, sworn statements by security officials, and party election officials, and we are able to prove in any arena we are called, that primary elections did not hold in Anambra State on Saturday. We will wish each one of us, take action together and separately to prevent the imposition of a candidate who has neither the popular support nor the personal integrity and character to lead our Party and Govern our State.

“Anambra State is too big, and the cause of good government is too important for us to allow the future of our dear State to be mortgaged by the actions of politicians from outside the State for whom politics is merely an opportunity for personal advancement by circumventing the democratic decisions of millions of fellow citizens. We jointly reject these results without reservation. And we call on the National Party to take action to prevent the imminent demise of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Anambra State and the South-east of Nigeria”.

Vanguard News Nigeria