Barely 48 hours after a protest erupted at the Umuahia office of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, women in Bende, Saturday, blocked the Uzuakoli/ Isuikwuato Road to protest what they called “criminal rigging” of the results of the February 25, presidential and national assembly elections.
The protesters mainly women and youths, accused INEC of colluding with anti-democratic forces to subvert the will of the people and announce doctored results.
The protesters who claimed that what INEC announced as the outcome of the election was not a true reflection of their votes, called for outright cancellation of the polls particularly the Bende federal constituency contest which they claimed was won by the Labour Party candidate, Chief Frank Chinasa.
The protesters carried placards with various inscriptions such as: “We can’t be disenfranchised, our votes matter;” “We need another election that will be free and fair;” “INEC refused to upload our results;” etc.
They expressed disappointment over the failure of INEC to keep to its promises of transmitting election results electronically using the Bi-modal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS.
The protesters who claimed that the Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, won by landslide in Bende, cried foul over the number of votes ascribed to him by INEC.
They called on INEC not to allow the robbery of the people’s mandate, insisting that the Labour Party candidates should be given their rightful votes.