This is as it said the governor’s absence in the Independent National Electoral Commission’s list of senatorial candidates for the 2023 general elections was a minor error from the commission which had been corrected.
The party insisted that Umahi remained its authentic candidate for the Ebonyi South Senatorial District, stressing that he won a duly re-conducted primary election for the constituency.
Chairman of the party, in Ebonyi State, Chief Stanley Okoro-emegha, stated this while interacting with journalists in Abakaliki, on Monday.
He disclosed that a fresh election duly monitored by officials of the INEC and security agencies was held after the initial winner of the election, Austine Umahi, and another aspirant in the first election, Ann Agom-Eze, withdrew from the contest.
According to him, “APC duly submitted the Governor’s name. The mistake did not come from the party. The necessary things were done; the stepping down of the two candidates that contested for that senatorial election was there with the party and the INEC.
“INEC was invited for the re-conduction because there was enough time for the party to re-conduct another primary election that will usher in another person. And the re-conduction of the election was done, the video clips are there, all the necessary security agencies and the ministries that were supposed to be there were there on the day of the re-conduction of the senatorial candidate primaries of APC in Ebonyi South.
“And then a panel was set up at the national secretariat Abuja and they arrived we took them to Afikpo which is the venue for the election, they did all the necessary things, the delegates that were supposed to participants of the primaries were all there.
“Mind you and watch very well that the particular column was blank, so there wasn’t an issue. If you like I can still forward the list of the states that had issues and the possible substitution they made because the national office of the party can not afford to leave any particular space vacant.
“Anybody carrying any other news is carrying it on their own. But I went to Abuja, I called them and asked them what happened and they traced it and saw where it was coming from and it was immediately corrected.”
