LAGOS, Nigeria(VOICE OF NAIJA)- Veteran Nollywood actor Emeka Ike sparked controversy in Abuja after leading supporters to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) office, alleging irregularities in the National Democratic Congress (NDC) primary election for the AMAC/Bwari Federal Constituency seat.
The dramatic protest took place on May 29, shortly after the party conducted its primaries.
Ike, who contested for the House of Representatives ticket, accused INEC officials of collaborating with NDC executives in the Federal Capital Territory to influence the outcome of the exercise in favour of another candidate.
Videos circulating online showed the actor visibly upset inside the INEC premises while demanding answers over the conduct of the election.
He stated that the process lacked transparency and excluded some aspirants from participating fully.
Expressing his frustration, Ike alleged that electoral officials attempted to carry out the exercise without properly informing all contestants.
“You are forced to do the right thing and you are now trying to come and do election behind us… We don’t have an address while the election is going on. I’m an Aspirant and I’m a Nigerian. And I’m saying to INEC, you will not go through with this. I don’t do social media activism. INEC will not escape this. You’re hiding to do election because you want to betray Nigerians. We have come for you,” he said.
The actor turned politician further explained that confusion over voting locations created major challenges for several aspirants and their supporters.
According to him, many contestants were directed to different venues while voting was allegedly taking place elsewhere.
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Speaking during an interview outside the INEC office, Ike claimed the election process was plagued by irregularities, including poor communication, alleged violations of party procedures, and vote-buying.
“There was so much serious chaos in all the wards, and we are not happy that some of us did not get the information of where the elections will be carried out. We mobilised our followers and expected proper accreditation, but instead people without party cards were allowed to vote. Some even came with voters cards, and we have videos of money being shared,” Ike alleged.
Providing more details, Ike noted that aspirants were initially instructed to gather at the Women’s Centre before being redirected to a local government council area in Abuja.
However, he claimed they later discovered that voting had already commenced in several wards.
In his words, “First of all, a couple of us aspirants were disenfranchised because where we were told the election would hold was not eventually where it held. We were told that we’re supposed to go to, first it was women’s center, then they said we should go to our local government council area in Trinity. And then at the end of the day, nothing was happening around there. We are now told, we got information from our intel, that plenty of the wards have been activated while some of us were at the local government center. And then the election was going on in the ward, so we now have to start mobilizing our followers to run to the ward. And some of them, before they got to the ward, election was concluded.”
Ike also alleged that when he and his supporters confronted party officials at the INEC office, the officials attempted to leave the scene.
He revealed that efforts to stop them were unsuccessful after they reportedly exited through another route.
“We went to the council area they asked us to go for election. We went to the INEC office in Area 10. We didn’t see people voting. Then when we got to the car park, we saw some party officials with a few people in a corner doing the same electoral process, and we confronted them. They quickly got into the car and started running off. We blocked the gates with our cars. They saw they couldn’t escape. We didn’t know they can escape from the back of that INEC office,” he claimed.
The allegations have continued to generate reactions online, with many awaiting responses from both INEC and the NDC leadership regarding the concerns raised by the actor over the conduct of the primary election.
