The Resident Electoral Commissioner of INEC in Imo state, Prof Francis Ezeonu, and governorship candidate of Reform and Advancement Party, RAP, Kingdom Okere, on Friday engaged in a face-off at the Commission’s office in Owerri.
Our correspondent who witnessed the drama observed that trouble started when the governorship candidate opposed the REC over the people he was issuing tags as RAP party agents for Saturday’s governorship and House of Assembly polls.
While Okere said that those the REC were issuing tags as party agents for RAP were not known by him, the REC ignored him.
The governorship candidate dissatisfied with what the REC was doing approached him and this halted the process for some time.
Okere challenged the REC and said;
“The people you are issuing tags are not members of my party. I have the list of people you will issue tags who will protect my votes.”
The REC replied:
“go away, I am not dealing with governorship candidates, I only deal with party chairmen.”
The RAP governorship candidate also fired back and said:
“My party chairman is compromised. He is working with the APC governorship candidate. Use my list unless you want to tell that you are compromised.”
It was at this point that the security men attached to the REC came, teargassed the governorship candidate and bundled him out of the INEC Secretariat.
The governorship candidate who spoke with journalists outside the INEC office said that the REC was allegedly compromised.
Okere said that he would by next week commence a legal action against the REC for ordering his security aides to assault him.
While calling for the immediate removal of the REC, the governorship candidate said that his party would sue INEC for issuing tags to non members of the party.
