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Rep. Dennis Agbo (LP- Enugu State), representing Igbo-Eze North/UdenuFederal Constituency, has assured voters of safety during the forthcoming rerun election in the constituency.
The lawmaker gave the assurance while speaking with newsmen in Nsukka on Wednesday.
It would be recalled that Agbo, a member of the Labour Party (LP), won Feb. 25, 2023 National Assembly election in the constituency.
But the Court of Appeal in Lagos State, had in November 2023, nullified his election and ordered a rerun in 166 out of 532 polling units in the constituency.
The ruling followed a petition brought before it by the candidate of the All Progressives Congress in the constituency’s election, Mrs Obiageli Aji.
Aji, who came third in the election and had lost at the National Assembly Election Petition Tribunal, had contended that the logo of her party was not in the EC8A form, prompting the Appeal Court to order for a rerun in the affected polling units within 90 days.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has scheduled the rerun to be held on Feb.3 2023.
Speaking on providing security, Agbo said he would mobilise and collaborate with Nigerian security agencies to provide security for voters during the rerun.
He said, “I know how important security is and I know it is my responsibility to provide security in this election”.
The federal lawmaker alleged that the security would help to frustrate the plans by his opposition to rig the election.
“Nobody else will secure the voters that day, because for them (opposition) to rig elections, they would want to create some kind of confusion, violence and so on.
“I know how they will do it and I have prepared to counter it. So, as this week wears out, you will see what will happen,” he said.
Agbo stressed that the security agencies were already aware of the security threats and election rigging strategies of oppositions in the constituency.”
Asked if he was confident of winning the rerun, the lawmaker said, “It’s a formality, I have already won”.
He added that the exercise was unnecessary given that he had secured unmatchable votes than his opponents in the polls.
“I won in (Feb. 25 election) with 28,870 votes, the second person got 14,300 votes. Not up to half of my own. The person who sued got a mere 903 votes.
“In all these contested and disputed 166 polling units, the total accreditation as of that election was 11,100.
“Which means that even if you carry the entire 11,100 votes and give it to the petitioner, she cannot even come second,” he explained.
He added that, “Out of my 28,870 votes, I have 6200 votes from the 166 polling units. So, I have intact votes of 22, 670″.
The lawmaker said he had already started working for his constituents before the court ruling, adding that he had the zeal to do more work after the rerun election.
He blamed the Peoples Democratic Party candidate in the election for saying he was allegedly inaugurating projects done by Enugu State Government.
“If you are in position and people give you the kind of support they gave me, you can’t but lose sleep to work for them.
“So, there’s nothing like losing steam as I am going to work more for the people,” he assured.
