The Ebonyi State Governor, David Umahi, on Monday night disclosed that the People’s Democratic Party [PDP] lost over 300, 000 votes to Card Readers’ crisis and malfunctioning during the conduct of last weekend’s presidential election in the state.

Umahi’s reaction comes after rumours that he negotiated a-35/65 per cent deal with the All Progressives Congress in the presidential election,

The governor stated this while speaking to newsmen in Abakaliki, the state capital on arrival from his country home, Uburu community, in Ohaozara Local Government Area of the state.

Visibly happy with the success recorded by the party in last presidential election, Umahi described the election as a game in which there is no permanent enemy and friend but permanent interest within a political arena.

He said,

“I want to thank Ebonyi people for coming out to cast their votes.

“I want to thank politicians and political parties that participated in the election. Election is a game. It comes and goes. No permanent enemy.

“I want to congratulate all those that won. Everybody has destiny. I want to commend the security agencies in the country. They refused to be induced.

“I also commend the officials of INEC. I want to console the families of electoral officials who died in active service. My prayer is that God will grant them eternal rest.

“Buhari still remains my friend whether is losing or passing. I can’t castigate him and I can’t cajole him.

“Over 300, 000 votes were discarded in Ebonyi because of the hiccups of the card readers.

“We have issue between constitution and guidelines. We have given 260,000 votes to PDP. The rest is what INEC announces. PDP has done well.”

Rejecting rumours that he entered into a deal with the ruling All Progressives Congress at the centre over the presidential poll, he stressed,

“The truth is that I can’t speak for all the state. If you were declared winner and you didn’t use card readers, you may lose.

“I call for improvement and electronics voting. Card readers may not have been used in other parts of the country.

“The issue of the card readers was a problem. Every responsible Governor must respect the President. He is the boss of all the Governors.

“You can’t get anything by castigating him. If you make your leader happy, he can assist you in making progress. I am in a hurry to change the narrative of Ebonyi.”