Key Highlights In Our Letters To NSA And Minister Of Interior:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That Intersociety\u2019s important letters to INEC Chair, IGP, PSC Chairman, Chief of Army Staff and DG-DSS should timely be acted upon and made to be complied with for purposes of public interest and ensuring sanctity of the Ballot Box and security and safety of Imo Voters, general public and their properties. The NSA and the Minister of Interior were also strongly called upon to ensure that Imo Voters and their properties are secured and protected to freely vote for Governorship Candidates of their choice on Nov 11, 2023 and  that apart from ensuring their security and safety, the voting environments and their residences and properties must also be secured and subversive elements within the security forces including Nigerian Army and all armed non state criminal entities stopped from wrecking more havocs.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSecurity And Police Conferences\u201d In Imo A Threat To Independence Of Nov 11 Poll<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The choice of Owerri-Imo State for the gone by \u201cSouth-East Govs\u2019 Security and Economic Summit\u201d held on September 28 and 29, 2023 and the \u201cSenior Police Officers Conference\u201d, to be held on Oct 30-Nov 1, 2023 is politically motivated and a clear attempt to undermine the independence, impartiality and credibility of the Nov 11 Governorship Election in the State. The two events should have been taken to a neutral Capital City or State and not Imo State-\u2018a Governorship Election State\u2019. The choice of Imo State to host the two events is also considered to be a waste of the earned and the borrowed public funds belonging to long suffering and uprooted citizens of the State and a clear case of political sponsorship geared towards gathering and cornering undue political favor and advantage for the incumbent Governor of Imo State who is facing a uphill task of securing a second term owing to his grisly and egregious human rights records. The Government of Imo State financial commitments in the two events; drawn from the State public treasury are capable of turning the operational attention and undue sympathies of the country\u2019s security chiefs including IGP, PSC Boss, DIGs, AIGs, CPs and Service and Intelligence Chiefs into unduly favoring the State incumbent in the Nov 11 Poll and encouraging Election Day partisanship including aiding and abetting poll rigging. The choice of Imo for the two events is hereby strongly and unreservedly condemned. A clear case in point is an age long close relationship    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We Are Watching DIG Frank Mba And Imo Police Anti Cult And IRT Tiger Base Commanders<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clusters of critics and observers have expressed deep fears over the age long closeness of DIG Frank Mba and Gov Hope Uzodinma and its possible negative effects capable of undermining the safety, popularity and credibility of the Nov 11, 2023 Imo Governorship Election. This is even as DIG Frank Mba is in a verge of being drafted to Imo State to supervise the Poll. DIG Mba\u2019s closeness with Gov Uzodinma has been pointed out by critics to have dated back to the former\u2019s service days at the Anti Fraud Unit at Milverton, Lagos State. The closeness became so pronounced that during DIG Frank Mba\u2019s recent elevation to the post of a DIG, he was jointly decorated with his new rank by Gov Hope Uzodinma and IGP Kayode Agbetokun. Pictorial evidence of same also trended widely on social, print and electronic media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Critics are deeply concerned that the closeness is likely to have a negative impact on the outcome of the Nov 11, 2023 Imo Governorship Poll including undermining its independence and credibility. We have also been reliably informed that the Owerri Tiger Base of the Nigeria Police IRT under the command of one Chukwuka Dibia and the State Police Command\u2019s Anti Cultism under the command of one Oladimeji have become a willing tool recklessly and indiscriminately used to hunt down and haunt political opponents of the State incumbent; all targeted at undermining the safety, popularity and credibility of the Poll. The above is to the extent that the two Police Crack Squads are reported to have been deployed using phantom criminal allegations with intents to intimidate members of the political opposition and conscientious voting population ahead of the Nov 11, 2023 Imo Governorship Poll. We are therefore watching the likes the movements and service-activities of DIG Frank Mba, CP Mohammed Barde and the above named Police Crack Squads\u2019 Commanders Dibia and Oladimeji ahead of the important Poll.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our Recent Visit To South-East Zone Of The EFCC To Checkmate Vote Buying In Imo <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Delegation of Intersociety <\/strong>and South-East Based Coalition of Democracy and Human Rights Organizations<\/strong> had on Oct 17, 2023 stormed the Enugu Zone of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) headed by the Zonal Commander, Aliyu Naibi. The Delegation was led by Prof Jerry Chidozie Chukwuokolo; a respected University Don and Human Rights and Democracy Campaigner and Engineer Ikenwoke Nwandu, a respected Computer Security Engineer and Human Rights and Democracy Campaigner. Other members of the Intersociety-SBCDHROs Delegation <\/strong>were Chukwuemeka Chijioke, PhD and Izundu Chigbo (Atama Ajali). The visit was to seek collaboration with the South-East Zone of the EFCC to checkmate vote buying and other Election Day corrupt practices during the Nov 11, 2023 Imo Governorship Poll; including tracking, arresting and prosecuting vote buyers and their recipients and aiders and abettors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Delegation was received by the Zonal Commander, Aliyu Naibi and his Zonal Director of Legal Services and Public Relations Officer. The Zonal Commander had in his response expressed his Commission\u2019s readiness to partner with credible Civil Society Organizations which according to him have closer association with the civil population. He assured the Delegation that his Commission in the South-East had received marching orders to make sure that all elections under their purview including the Nov 11, 2023 Imo Governorship Poll are rid of vote buying and other forms of voter intimidations and suppression and that his Commission will deploy enough personnel to checkmate and stamp out the referenced sharp practices in Imo State during its Nov 11, 2023 Governorship Poll.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Failure To Act On Our Letters Ignited Fears Of \u201cHarvesting And Writing Imo Results\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The failure by eight recipients of \u201cOur Public Interest Letters\u201d on Nov 11, 2023 Governorship Poll: INEC Chair, IGP, PSC Chair, DG-SSS, Chief of Army Staff, NSA, Minister of Interior and Chief of Defense Staff; expeditiously and judiciously act on the letters has ignited and thickened our fears of possible \u201charvesting and writing\u201d of Imo Governorship Results in favor of the Incumbent. Our letters are so facts-laden, tempting and irresistible that no sane public office holder and critical stakeholder in democratic process will receive them and still maintain a culture of silence and lukewarm attitude; except if such a public office holder and critical stakeholder is seriously working to undermine democratic process including free, fair, participatory, secured and credible election in Imo State. For timely receiving our well-researched and facts-laden letters and refusing to expeditiously and judiciously act on them, we are left with no option than to conclude that the eight critical public institutions and core stakeholders are \u201cImo 2023 Governorship Poll Rigging Friendly\u201d. We publicly challenge them to prove us wrong by acting on the letters bearing in mind that time is of extreme essence. It is therefore our firm and resolute position that the results of the Imo Governorship Poll must not be \u201charvested and written\u201d and that  \u201c200,000 living votes are greater than 2m dead votes\u201d in Imo<\/u><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fourteen (14) Major Steps Imo Governorship State Candidates And Their Parties Must Take<\/p>\n\n\n\n