APGA chairman slams Ngige over N8 billion bribe allegation

Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance Chief Victor Umeh has slammed the gubernatorial candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Senator Chris Ngige over an allegation that the Presidency voted $50 million (N8 billion) for the prosecution of the elections by APGA.

Umeh said,  “Who made the allegation? I want you to mention names. I think Dr. Chris Ngige has not been able to come to terms with it. He has busied himself trying to justify why he lost. But clearly, before the election, I had told him that he had no chance in the election. There was this screaming headline in one of the national dailies that ‘APGA will beat Ngige silly, says Umeh’; that was two months to the election.

“I come from the state and I know the issues involved and I know that the people will not vote for him. It is very unfortunate that a senator of the National Assembly of the Federal Republic of Nigeria can make such an unfounded allegation that the Federal Government gave Anambra State N8 billion Ecological Fund to go and rig elections.

“There are ways of monitoring use of money; you cannot use money meant for a purpose to go and do election. APGA doesn’t have that character and we have not been known to be rigging elections in the past. Really, it was Ngige who rigged election and APGA flushed him out, through the courts.”

Responding to the timing of the Presidency’s congratulatory message to Obiano after the election was conducted but still disputed, Umeh replied,

“That is what we are saying here. Nigerians should be able to develop the culture of nurturing this democracy and one important thing you will do to nurture democracy is to accept defeat when you lose an election.

“If you don’t want to accept defeat, even when you know that you have been trounced badly in an exercise, then you will be dragging democracy to the mud and that is my advice to APC. APC should help Nigeria by developing the culture of accepting defeat when they lose.

“It is not only when they win that an election is good; you know the ACN is the major partner in the parties that formed the APC. In Edo State, there were complaints about delays in materials arriving for the election. But as soon as Adams Oshiomhole was announced as the winner, the then ACN poured encomiums on Jega (INEC chairman). But when they lost in Anambra, they said Jega should be killed.

“It is not good; we should know that in an election, somebody will win and others will lose and if you begin to imbibe the culture of accepting defeat, you will not overheat the polity. Right now, what we are expecting is that any election that APC loses, heavens will fall and that is not the case. They must go into an election with an attitude that they may win or that they may lose.

“What they have exhibited thus far is that they must win and if that is the case, they stand any moral ground condemning anybody or telling anybody that you are not doing well…,” Umeh said.