APGA/PDP In Thug Of War Over Burnt Abia INEC Office

The Peoples Democratic Party and the All
Progressive Grand Alliance in Abia State are
trading blame over a fire that razed the office of the
Independent National Electoral Commission in
Obingwa Local Government Area of the state.
The INEC office in Obingwa went up in flames on
Sunday morning, allegedly the handiwork of some
arsonists.
Abia State Governor, Okezie Ikpeazu, hails from the
council area.
The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Mr.
Udevioutu Onyeke, who confirmed the incident to
our correspondent in Umuahia, said the police had
yet to ascertain the extent of damage and the
possible cause.
Onyeke said he could not tell whether or not the
fire was deliberately started by some persons or
accidental.
A source, close to the government, accused APGA
of being responsible for the fire.
The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity,
said, “Persons, suspected to be stalwarts of APGA,
this morning set the building housing INEC office at
Mgboko, the Obingwa council headquarters, on fire.
“Eyewitnesses said those who started the fire came
with weapons such as guns, axes and knives and
gallons of fuel, and were chanting APGA victory
songs and brandishing APGA emblems.”
But in his response, the APGA chairman in the
state, Augustine Ehiemere, denied the allegation,
saying it was an attempt by the the PDP-led
administration to cover its ” fraud at the polls.”
Ehiemere said it was surprising that PDP would
accuse APGA of the dastardly act when the latter
needed the electoral materials in the burnt INEC
office to support its petition against Ikpeazu at the
tribunal.
The APGA chairman said, “The government burnt
down the place to destroy evidence against its
fraud . They did it because the tribunal had ordered
INEC to assemble the electoral materials on
Monday (tomorrow).
Also responding, the APGA governorship candidate
in the state, Dr. Alex Otti, accused some thugs
loyal to the state government of starting the fire.
Otti, who spoke through his media aide, Jennifer
Ben-Okereke, alleged that the PDP was afraid that
the electoral materials in the burnt office would
jeopardise its case at the tribunal.
The APGA candidate said that when his team of
forensic experts went to the council headquarters
to inspect the electoral materials, they were
allegedly attacked by thugs suspected to be loyal
to Ikpeazu.
He appealed to security agents to thoroughly
investigate the incident with a view to fishing out
the culprits.
In his response, Ikpeazu condemned the
perpetrators, describing them as enemies of the
state.
A statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Godwin
Adindu, partly read, “Governor Ikpeazu, who
inspected the scene of the fire later in the day,
expressed shock at the level of damage done to
the building and charged the police and other law
enforcement agencies to ensure that the culprits
are brought to book.”
Ikpeazu also called on the security agencies to
beef up security at all INEC offices in the state to
forestall such incidents.