2023: Uproar as INEC removes Mwa-Anyajike as NRM presidential candidate
In controversial circumstances, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday changed the name of Mazi Okwudili Nwa-Anyajike to Mr Felix Johnson Osakwe as the National Rescue Mission (NRM) presidential candidate.
Nwa-Anyadike, who was at the INEC headquarters in Abuja to fill in the relevant forms which would have enabled him to compete for the exalted seat of the presidency in the 2023 elections, told the Guardian he was surprised by development. He said it is beyond his imagination that his name was changed to INEC officials working with suspended party officials to deliver the ticket to Osakwe, who he says is neither a registered NRM member nor a participant. in the party's presidential primary.Recalling the failed attempt to substitute his name by disgruntled party officials, he said there was no basis for INEC's illegal conduct since he failed to signify his interest in writing to withdraw from the presidential race.
He called on Professor Mahmoud Yakubu to look into the matter in the interest of justice and fair play.
He said: "This is a clear case of anarchy and impunity on the part of INEC. There is no way they can substitute my name for someone who is not even a member of the party and who did not participate in the primary election. "I will resist allowing someone who lost in the primary of another party (AA) to go through the small door to take the ticket which belongs to me by right", he noted.
Nwa-Anyajike in the presidential primaries of the party controlled by INEC and the security agencies garnered 180 votes to defeat his closest rival, Professor Benedicta Egbo, who obtained 30 votes. While Senator Ibrahim Yinusa scored 10, six other contenders withdrew from the contest.
This comes in the context of the NRM's National Executive Committee's decision to suspend its National Chairman, Ambassador Isaac Ude and National Organizing Secretary, Mr. Mohammed Idrissu, for allegedly forging the signature of Nwa-Anyajike. Senator Saidu Dansauda, chairman of the party's board, chastised the duo for the alleged criminal act. The BoT chairman lamented the behavior of the suspended national officers, which he said was a gross violation of the party's mission to save Nigeria.
Dansauda urged the police to promptly investigate, arrest and charge Ambassadors Ude and Idrissu for undermining the integrity of the NRM.
Also speaking, the party's presidential candidate, Mazi Nwa-Anyajike, recounted that the suspended national chairman and organizing secretary allegedly conspired with an Osakwe pastor to forge his signature after he paid suspended party officials N20m for the party's presidential ticket.
In a vote at the end of the NEC, party officials passed a vote of confidence in their presidential candidate, Mazi Nwa-Anyajike, and urged the party base to rally behind him to save Nigeria from the throes of insecurity and hunger caused by the mismanagement of the APC government led by President Muhammad Buhari.
In controversial circumstances, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday changed the name of Mazi Okwudili Nwa-Anyajike to Mr Felix Johnson Osakwe as the National Rescue Mission (NRM) presidential candidate.
Nwa-Anyadike, who was at the INEC headquarters in Abuja to fill in the relevant forms which would have enabled him to compete for the exalted seat of the presidency in the 2023 elections, told the Guardian he was surprised by development. He said it is beyond his imagination that his name was changed to INEC officials working with suspended party officials to deliver the ticket to Osakwe, who he says is neither a registered NRM member nor a participant. in the party's presidential primary.Recalling the failed attempt to substitute his name by disgruntled party officials, he said there was no basis for INEC's illegal conduct since he failed to signify his interest in writing to withdraw from the presidential race.
He called on Professor Mahmoud Yakubu to look into the matter in the interest of justice and fair play.
He said: "This is a clear case of anarchy and impunity on the part of INEC. There is no way they can substitute my name for someone who is not even a member of the party and who did not participate in the primary election. "I will resist allowing someone who lost in the primary of another party (AA) to go through the small door to take the ticket which belongs to me by right", he noted.
Nwa-Anyajike in the presidential primaries of the party controlled by INEC and the security agencies garnered 180 votes to defeat his closest rival, Professor Benedicta Egbo, who obtained 30 votes. While Senator Ibrahim Yinusa scored 10, six other contenders withdrew from the contest.
This comes in the context of the NRM's National Executive Committee's decision to suspend its National Chairman, Ambassador Isaac Ude and National Organizing Secretary, Mr. Mohammed Idrissu, for allegedly forging the signature of Nwa-Anyajike. Senator Saidu Dansauda, chairman of the party's board, chastised the duo for the alleged criminal act. The BoT chairman lamented the behavior of the suspended national officers, which he said was a gross violation of the party's mission to save Nigeria.
Dansauda urged the police to promptly investigate, arrest and charge Ambassadors Ude and Idrissu for undermining the integrity of the NRM.
Also speaking, the party's presidential candidate, Mazi Nwa-Anyajike, recounted that the suspended national chairman and organizing secretary allegedly conspired with an Osakwe pastor to forge his signature after he paid suspended party officials N20m for the party's presidential ticket.
In a vote at the end of the NEC, party officials passed a vote of confidence in their presidential candidate, Mazi Nwa-Anyajike, and urged the party base to rally behind him to save Nigeria from the throes of insecurity and hunger caused by the mismanagement of the APC government led by President Muhammad Buhari.
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