JUST IN: CUPP faults Imo govt over N54m campaign levy

The Coalition of United Political Parties, CUPP, on Monday, faulted the Imo State government for imposing an N54 million levy on the governorship candidates of opposition parties.

CUPP, in a statement by its National co-Spokesperson, Mr. Mark Adebayo, described it as a deliberate action to sabotage the campaign activities of opposition candidates.

The statement urged Governor Hope Uzodimma to reverse the policy, saying the CUPP would call the attention of international bodies to the anti-democratic move if he failed to heed their warning.

The statement reads: “It is not only shocking but preposterous and unconscionably antidemocratic for a state governor to seek to engage in a despicable venture of pre-rigging an election in which he is a participant by this crazy imposition of unwarranted levies on other candidates.

“We consider it a deliberate scheme to frustrate the campaign activities of opposition candidates in an election that Governor Hope Uzodimma already knows that he stands to lose due to the appalling records of his administration for the past four years in which Imo state has been turned into the killing fields of the East without any tangible development to showcase. Being a beneficiary of a compromised mandate, the Governor does not and is unable to appreciate the democratic praxis of engagement which has portrayed him as an enemy of democracy since his questionable ascension to office as Governor almost four years ago.

“We vehemently condemn this evil scheme of defrauding the opposition with an open agenda to frustrate our candidates. It is stated in the Imo state government’s memo that even payment of the N54 million is not a guarantee that you could be allowed to secure campaign premises or erect campaign billboards or paste campaign posters, et cetera. It is still at the discretion of the state government to approve or disapprove your application. We call on all opposition Parties and candidates to immediately unite against this atrocious scheme of antidemocratic forces in Imo state. We shall not allow this wickedness to stand. The CUPP will organize a mother of all protests ever witnessed in the political history of the South East in Owerri should the government refuse to reverse this obnoxious policy.

“We call the attention of the international community to this foreboding danger to our nascent democracy and to call Governor Hope Uzodinma to order by imposing visa bans on him should he fail to reverse this disgraceful policy. We shall escalate our official protests to relevant embassies and international organizations in the next one week should the Imo state governor insist on proceeding with this naked dance of shame in the marketplace.

“We call on all opposition candidates to remain steadfast, focused and united in fighting this cause until victory is achieved. Nobody can cheat Imo people more than once. They are too politically sophisticated than that.”