Ahmed Gulak says he
was offered bribe to manipulate the All Progressives Congress (APC)
governorship primary in Imo.
The APC chieftain was the
chairman of the panel that oversaw the exercise.
Gulak, a former adviser
to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, says an unnamed person offered him $2
million and a private jet flight to Imo state before the primary began.
In an interview with Vanguard,
Gulak told of how he was nearly “kidnapped” alongside members of the panel when
they arrived Imo.
“…Even before I went to
Imo state, I was offered a private jet to take me to Imo state but I refused
because I didn’t want to be compromised,” he was quoted as saying.
“I refused the private
jet and even the tempting offer made to me, very tempting, we are talking about
two million dollars here, which I refused.
“Although, I tried to
persuade them that I was going to do what is needful, free and fair primaries.
Every stakeholder must be involved.
“Immediately we landed at
the airport, that was where the problem started. They wanted to kidnap every
member and only God knows where they wanted to take us to, which I refused.”
The party’s national
working committee (NWC) endorsed Hope Uzodimma, senator representing Imo west,
as its governorship flag bearer, a decision Rochas Okorocha, governor of
the state, is kicking against.
Okorocha maintains that
Uche Nwosu, his son-in-law, is the authentic winner of the primary.
Gulak also alleged that
the governor forced members of the electoral panel to declare Nwosu winner of
the primary.
Nwosu had been announced winner before
the NWC cancelled the exercise.
According to Gulak,
“after the collation, few others and myself escaped from where we would have
been conscripted. The governor himself came to take everybody in the hotel but
before he arrived, about four of us escaped and he moved other members
including the secretary.
“He took them to
government house and they read a prepared speech declaring his son in-law the
winner of that exercise. But I had already left Owerri for Abuja where I
submitted my result”.
The outcome of the
primary election is still being contested in court.
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