Chairman and Mayor of Obingwa Local Government Council of Abia State, Dr. Eric Egwuibe has pledged to work with Governor Alex Otti to rid the area of future electoral fraud.
Egwuibe made the commitment on the heels of the recent Supreme Court judgement that upheld Otti’s election.
It will be recalled that the result of Obingwa LGA in the March 18, 2023 governorship election brewed a staggering controversy that it took days after the exercise to resolve before Otti and his Labour Party were eventually declared the actual winner.
In his speech after the reaffirmation of his victory by the Supreme Court, Otti said that such manipulations will not be tolerated in the future elections.
He said that a new crop of leaders was in place in the local government area to uphold the integrity of the election process hence forth.
“I have a word for our brothers and sisters from Obingwa. If you followed the adoptions two days ago, our lead counsel, Abiodun Owonikoko SAN, said that he had followed elections in Abia, and actually he had been our lawyer since 2015. Obingwa had lent itself as a place where elections are rigged and where results are manipulated. It is instructive to say that it is not the whole Obingwa.
“It is a few people in the former ruling party, who had constituted themselves into instruments of manipulation, not because of the benefits that Obingwa would receive but for self interest. I’m happy to announce that a new crop of leaders have emerged from Obingwa and we’re going to support them.
“Some of them attend churches and what the Bible tells us is that righteousness exalts a nation, so if you did not win an election, it is sin for you to pretend that you won an election.
“Obingwa is very important place to me because it is part of the places that I grew up in Abia State and at that time when my father was alive, we lived in Obingwa for a few years and I actually finished my primary school in Obingwa, and I know that Obingwa people are not fraudulent.
“We now send clear message to them that all the so-called stakeholders and evil manipulators, who have put Obingwa in the wrong side of the land, they should now retire because we have a new crop of young people, who want the right thing to be done; who do not want to be known as an empire where manipulations and fraud and scam come from. We are people with dignity and we should maintain and respect that dignity.”
Reacting to the remarks, the chairman of the local government area, Egwuibe commended the Governor for finding them worthy and entrusting the fortunes and governance of the area in their hands.
He pledged to work assiduously to redeem the image of the area, stressing that gone were the days electoral frauds, crimes and criminality perpetrated by selfish politicians would be allowed to dominate the good culture of the people.
“First, we are all thankful to His Excellency for finding us worthy to be in the circle of new crop of leaders in Obingwa.
“We bemoan the manipulations that made many of us victims of direct attacks of these opposition elements during the election.
“The mantra of the local government administration is Rebranding Obingwa for better politics.
“We want to assure the governor and indeed, the entire people of Obingwa LGA that with the opportunity given to us to serve, we will correct the anomalies and stop the political scavengers from dragging our good name in the mud any further. We are here to give our dear LGA a new lease of life,” Egwuibe said.
