Francis Sadhere
COUNSEL to members of the Warri Unit of IMB/NUPENG, Barrister Mike Ukusare has described the purported election of one Benjamin Ifeta held in Benin as IMB /NUPENG Chairman, as illegal and should be declared null and void.
Addressing a press conference yesterday in Warri on behalf of his clients, Comrade Akpos Akpemuwan (IMB/NUPENG Chairman Warri Unit), Comrade Atigari Jonathan, Comrade Uzu Edewor, Comrade Godwin Ejiro and others, Barrister Ukusare said Comrade Akpos Akpemuwan was duly elected in a free and fair election conducted in Warri, describing a similar election conducted in Benin in which Comrade Benjamin Ifeta emerged chairman, as a kangaroo election.
According to him; “The claim that Comrade Akpos Akpemuwan was illegally elected in a hotel in Warri is a big lie. I want to say on behalf of my clients that the Benin election of IMB/NUPENG was a fraud. What is the business of the national wing in a unit election? Any election held in Benin outside Warri is null and void.”
“Mr. Joseph Ogbebor who is the Deputy General Secretary, Operations, NUPENG, was quoted in a national daily to have said that he presided over elections of the executives of the Warri Branch of the Independent Marketers in Benin and boasted that no other person will go back and conduct any other election. He said the National Secretariat of NUPENG, which is the highest decision making body was there and that election was free and fair and that Benjamin Ifeta pulled 418 votes out of 469 votes cast at the purported election to emerge winner,” he said.
He added that; “As counsel to Comrade Akpos Akpemuwan, we are not resting on our oars to challenge every bit of that election that was held in Benin. Straight away I want to let the press and public know that a legal action has been commenced by Akpos led group in a suit No. NIC/EN/212/2013 holding in the National Industrial Court in the Enugu Judicial Division.”
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Also speaking at the press conference, Comrade Akpos Akpemuwan said that his owngroup had to conduct an election so that there will be no lacuna in the position of the Executive.
“If we go by the constitution it is clearly stated that the highest zonal officer shall be the electoral chairman of a unit election. Any other person is an observer. But that was not the case of what we saw in the election that was conducted in Benin; there was no timetable for election, there was no accreditation, all we heard was that people have emerged,” Comrade Akpemuwan said.
Comrade Akpemuwan added; “I also want to say that Honourable Henry Baro was not in town when the election took place. I read that his name was mentioned that he sponsored a paper of fraud and forgery to make sure that he conducted elections. I want to state here that that statement is a criminal statement.
He therefore called on the state government to step into the matter with a view to resolving the matter, noting that the union belongs to all.
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