A former member of the House of Representatives, Rep Sam Onuigbo, has called on the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to explain how 36,935 votes were allocated to a single candidate during the party’s Abia Central Senatorial primary.
Onuigbo was responding to a media report that dismissed a petition by stakeholders of the APC in Abia Central Senatorial District.
A group identifying itself as leaders of the party’s chapter in the district had written to the National Chairman, Prof Nentawe Goshwe Yilwatda, alleging that Onuigbo’s claims of irregularities were a “calculated campaign of falsehood” aimed at destabilizing the party ahead of the 2027 general election.
In a statement issued to reporters in Abuja on Thursday, Onuigbo described the primary exercise held on May 18 as a “ballot bazaar” and challenged the sponsors of media attacks against him to come clean on their roles in the whimsical allocation of votes.
“The sting of truth has stunned the architects of the ballot bazaar,” Onuigbo said. “The guilty have suddenly become afraid that their clandestine activities against APC are coming to light.”
According to Onuigbo, the entire Abia Central Senatorial District has approximately 59,000 registered APC members.
“In a Senatorial District that has roughly 59,000 members, how did the architects of the confusion in Abia Central Senatorial primary election come about the 36,935 votes it gifted a single candidate, when no election held in most wards?” he queried.
He further noted that two other contestants in the disputed primary were credited with 11,457 and 5,833 votes respectively, describing the figures as “magic votes.”
Onuigbo also challenged the authors of the fabricated results to disclose the source of a certificate of return reportedly issued to the alleged winner.
“The authors of the fabricated results for Abia Central Senatorial primary should also tell Nigerians where they got the certificate of return issued to the alleged winner, when the National Leadership of the party categorically denied that no such document except Mr President’s certificate of return was printed,” he said.
The former lawmaker disclosed that the controversy has already led to the departure of a prominent party member, Senator Nkechi Nwaogu.
“This shameful conduct by a few overzealous individuals in the Abia Central Senatorial primary has cost the APC not only in terms of reputation, but also the structural harmony existing in the party,” Onuigbo said.
“For instance, as we speak, Senator Nwaogu has left APC out of the vexatious denial of participation in a simple exercise as senatorial primary.”
Senator Nwaogu, a ranking member of the Sixth and Seventh Senate, had earlier petitioned the APC national leadership, stating that it was insulting that she waited the entire day without any official coming to her Osisioma Ngwa Ward 2 or anywhere in Osisioma Ngwa Local Government Area to conduct the senatorial primary.
Onuigbo also warned against importing into the APC what he described as the Peoples Democratic Party’s “virus of impunity and breach of transparent process.”
He urged the national leadership of the party to thoroughly investigate the confusion that engulfed the Abia Central Senatorial primary and the reputation damage caused by those who hijacked the process.
“I wish to encourage the leaders of our great party to painstakingly get to the roots of the confusion that engulfed the conduct of Abia Central Senatorial primary election, as well as the reputation damage caused by those who hijacked the process for their narrow interest,” Onuigbo added.
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