APC guber aspirant, Aganaba brands Bayelsa primary a ‘scam’, says results were written in a hotel

Preye Aganaba, one of the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship aspirant in Bayelsa State, has rejected the outcome of the primary which produced David Lyon as the candidate of the party.

He described the party’s primary as a mockery of the democratic process, adding that the direct primary was a political hoax and lacked any semblance of credibility.

He further alleged that the results were written in a hotel in Yenagoa, the state capital.

Aganaba was sixth out of the six APC governorship aspirants in the state. He secured 354 votes, while the winner, Lyon polled 42,138.

Speaking with reporters on Thursday, he claimed that the process leading to the direct primary election was rife with irregularities and had set a bad precedent “for a political party that prides itself as a progressive which is supposed to lead by example.

“Engr. Preye Aganaba did not partake in the September 4th APC governorship primary election because there was no election. The degrading votes allotted to him is a complete fabrication and designed to ridicule him and his supporters.”

The politician further recalled that few issues were raised by the aspirants to ensure a credible process during a stakeholders’ meeting with the Returning Officer and Chairman of the state Primary Election Committee, Mai-Mala Buni, the Governor of Yobe state.

READ ALSO: Lokpobiri rejects results after coming fourth in Bayelsa APC gov primaries

According to him, the stakeholders had agreed that the names of returning officers should be published at ward levels; result sheets should be available in the various local government areas and also that tags should be provided for the eight local government agents and 105 ward agents.

Aganaba lamented that though the chairman and secretary of the committee agreed to the demands, they failed to honour them during the process that led to the primaries.

“The Returning Officer, Mai-Mala Buni was not present during the primary election, having travelled back to Abuja the same night after the meeting, never to return.

“In the morning, the Secretary disappeared and his phones switched off, thus thwarting any effort by the aspirants to address these discrepancies.

“The above actions clearly cast a huge doubt on the neutrality of the election committee members and its commitment towards conducting a free and fair election as they have breached every trust reposed on them.

“One wonders how a Returning Officer and Chairman of a Governorship Primary election Committee can endorse a process he never witnessed and since when did a Collation Officer substitute the powers of the Chairman of a Governorship Primary Election Committee and declare a winner?

“It is shocking and impossible to believe the election results can be announced from a hotel without evidence of elections having held; a simple process which is validated by the presence of election results sheets signed by ward returning officers as well as ward agents to the aspirants.

“This single-minded desperation is inimical to the doctrines of the APC. The All Progressive Congress is being inexorably drawn towards an absolutism system, where complete power is held by one man who has no qualms to claiming rights over virtually everything.

“This political fraud perpetrated in the name of direct primaries is a vindication of the earlier assertion of Engr Preye Aganaba at the September 3 stakeholders meeting, about the path the party is being driven by some politicians.

Aganaba called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to distance itself from the “scam” and reject the result completely.

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