The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chapter in Imo State has said that it is prepared to run candidates in all 27 local government areas of the state for local council on Saturday, September 21.

But the party promised to oppose any attempt by the state’s ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to rig the poll.

In a statement released by its publicity secretary, Lancelot Obiaku, the PDP also denounced what it perceived as the Imo State Independent Electoral Commission’s (ISIEC) contempt for its directives, which came just a few days before the poll.

The party asserted that the purported disrespect for the law is a blatant sign of what he called an ill-advised scheme by the APC government led by Governor Hope Uzodinma to rig the results.

The party is ready to run in the election, the press secretary reiterated, but she insisted that ISIEC follow its own rules and hold a legitimate local government election.

In the statement, the state chairman of the PDP, Hon. Austin Nwachukwu, also denounced ISIEC for allegedly inviting the party’s candidates for chairmanship and councillorship to its state headquarters and demanding N50,000 and N200,000, respectively, instead of publishing the voter list in the wards as required by law.

Today, we want to make Nigerians aware of the wrongdoings and foul play that the electoral commission and the Uzodinma administration are committing, particularly among the people of Imo.

“These are the issues,”During our most recent meeting with the ISIEC leadership on August 8, 2024, Chief Charles Ejiogu, the Chairman, and all of the Commissioners he had invited to discuss security concerns related to the election, briefed the stakeholders.

The ISIEC Chairman informed us during that meeting in Oguta that security chiefs had voiced concerns about the safety of people and property on election day, particularly in light of recent violent attacks and security lapses that resulted in the deaths of at least 20 innocent people and the destruction of properties valued at over 1 billion Naira.

We discussed the fees for DF001 and DF002 for candidates running for chairmanship and councillorship in that same meeting, but no decision was made.

To maintain impartiality, the announcement added, “We also discussed the recruitment of ad hoc staff to ensure they are not card-carrying members of any political party, particularly the Returning and Collation Officers.”

The Publicity Secretary went on to claim that the parties were unable to agree on a time or date for submitting the names of party agents to the commission and that ISIEC has since neglected to meet again to advise the parties on the matters at hand.

But much to our surprise, on September 16, 2024, we learned of a document circulating on social media that appeared to be from ISIEC and was signed by the Chairman, inviting candidates to its office on Orlu Road for validation.

“We were shocked to see that ISIEC was simply requesting N50,000 from candidates running for councillorships and N200,000 from those running for chairmanships instead of the alleged validation when we went to look into it this morning.

“We find it shocking that ISIEC has not yet provided the legally mandated formal briefing to political parties or made any information about these issues public.

“In what part of the globe does an electoral commission interact with candidates without enlisting the support and endorsement of those candidates? This is not authorized by law and is illegal. The opposition party said, “What’s even more concerning is that these actions go against ISIEC’s own guidelines.”

The statement went on to say, “But Imo people will not allow this to happen,” in response to the commission’s alleged lack of preparation for the vote and exclusive focus in manipulating it. The administration has a history of threatening the people of Imo, stealing election materials, fabricating results, and breaking electoral laws. But it won’t stand this time. It’s enough.

According to PDP, the procedures for nominating its candidates in compliance with ISIEC’s recommendations and submitting names on time satisfied all the standards outlined by the Electoral Act.

“We maintain that the appropriate action needs to be taken, and it needs to be taken right away before the APC government burns down the state again,” the PDP threatened.