Fresh Controversy Trails APC Bomadi/Patani Reps Primaries Over Alleged Result Manipulation

Fresh facts have emerged over the conduct of the All Progressives Congress (APC) House of Representatives primary election for Bomadi/Patani Federal Constituency of Delta State, with allegations that the exercise was manipulated by officials assigned to conduct and collate the primary election results, raising fresh concerns over the credibility of the outcome.

According to the fresh claims backed by video evidence and ward-level voting records, he returning officer of the Bomadi/Patani federal constituency allegedly failed to utilise the actual results obtained from the wards during the collation process, resulting in discrepancies between votes recorded at ward levels and the final figures announced.

In one of the videos, the returning officer, brought out a sheet of paper from his pocket containing an alleged doctored result from which he announced the purported collated result which is a clear violation of the electoral process.

The emerging evidence reportedly showed that wards where Hon. Nicholas Mutu was said to have secured victories were allegedly omitted or not reflected in the final result declared by the returning officer.

Some of the affected areas were identified as Ward 3, Ward 4, Ward 1, Ward 7 and Ward 9, all with video evidences of the announcement of the results.

The aggrieved camp identified the contact persons in the affected wards as Mr. Cletus Edougha for Ward 7, Dr Deighan Macaulay, Ward 1, Hon. William Angadi, Ward 4, Hon. Mike Seikegba, Ward 3 while Chief Fere-ere Gbe was listed for Ward 9, all from Bomadi. They claimed that available records and video clips from the voting points supported the assertion that the wards delivered votes in favour of the incumbent lawmaker.

The allegations have now sparked renewed calls from party stakeholders and supporters for an independent review of the primary process, with demands that the APC leadership thoroughly examine the materials, including the video evidence and ward documentation, to determine whether the announced result reflected the actual outcome of the exercise and the mandate of the APC members from the Bomadi/Patani federal constituency.