Senatorial candidate of the Labour Party (LP) candidate in the February 3, 2023 bye-election in Ebonyi State, Hon Linus Okorie and the chairman of Onicha local government area, Hon Chidiebere Uzor yesterday disagreed on alleged importation of political thugs from Niger Delta region ahead of the election.
During a reception in his honour by the community, Okorie accused Uzor of bringing thugs from the Niger Delta to unleash mayhem on innocent voters at the election.
Okorie said the party had already alerted security agencies on the plot by the chairman and his thugs to cause mayhem during the election and expressed regret that the same scenario played out during the last general election in 2023.
“We want to bring to the notice of the people that the local government chairman of Onicha, Hon Chidiebere Uzor has imported thugs from Niger Delta which he did the last time which led to the death of someone.
“We have already reported to the security agencies. We want to assure them that if anyone is killed, the people won’t go free because Onicha is a holy land,” he said.
But in a swift reaction, the media adviser to the council chairman, Prince Chijoke Agwu, described the allegation as false and unfounded and urged the candidate to focus on his campaign if he is actually campaigning for the bye-election.
Agwu said his principal is too busy with the ongoing ward campaign for the candidate of his party to respond to “such laziness”.
“Right now, we are at Abaomege ward. The election is beyond attention seeking alarms. If the LP candidate is in the contest for real, he should point to any ward in the five local government areas of Ebonyi South he has visited for campaign or consultation. In the absence of that, he should be peaceful.
“It should however be noted that the Labour Party candidate actually raised the alarm to cover a vicious attack launched against an APC member from his Isiama village on Wednesday by some of his supporters.
“He should be told that no amount of alarm will stop security agencies from investigating the incident,” Agwu said.
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