Election that got me into parliament wasn’t rigged, says Agbo

Dennis Agbo, a representative, declared there was no fraud in the election that put him in the federal legislature.

Agbo, who was elected to the House as the representative of the Igbo-Eze North/Udenu Federal Constituency in Enugu State on the Labour Party platform, also urged candidates for elective office to abstain from election rigging.

In defending his victory in the 2023 HoR National Assembly elections, the federal parliamentarian claimed that he received 28,750 votes as opposed to his rival’s 14,300.

The federal lawmaker said, “God is my witness; I did not rig the election that brought me to the House of Representatives. I spoke at the launch of Season 4 of Corruption Tori on Monday, hosted by Signature TV in Abuja. God will bless me if I use the funds given to me for projects wisely and then use my own later. My children will attend school, I will construct the home of my dreams, purchase the car I desire, and so on, all without being corrupt.

“You don’t need to rig the election; my supporters cast 28750 votes for me, and they turned out in the rain and the sun to support me. 14,300 votes were cast for the runner-up, who did not receive my vote in the majority. I didn’t gain any votes for myself, so I’m putting in a lot of effort to bring all the goods from Abuja back to my people.

Because politicians steal from their own, specifically by stealing votes, people in Nigeria today start to view you as a thief when you introduce yourself as a politician. They steal your vote and force their way into power because you didn’t support them. Election rigging thus constitutes serious corruption.

We will be forced to drive on poor roads in Nigeria if a public official is given money to build a road and he syphons the money into his pocket or bank account. Kidnapping, theft, damaged vehicles, and accidents are all caused by bad roads, he continued.

He warned students at the Government Junior Secondary School in Mpape, where the event was held, not to cheat on exams because doing so also constitutes corruption and to refuse to be used by politicians as a voting-rigging device.

He emphasised, “Do not allow yourself to be used to rig elections because the person who was supposed to win will not win again, and by cheating in the exam, the person who was supposed to come first will not come first again. Do not cheat; instead, read your books, pay attention in class, and write down what you already know to succeed in exams.

“By favouritism, man knows man, someone who was supposed to get a job will not get it, and that person who was supposed to get a job and did not get it, the work will not be done well,” the author writes.

He explained how he has managed to maintain his reputation as a good politician by abstaining from corruption, pointing out that hard work can enable a person who is not corrupt to succeed to the same extent as a corrupt person.

“People believed that there were no good politicians; I strive to be one. Because I don’t follow the wrong path, I am known as Mr. Integrity in my community.

The Chief Executive Officer of Signature TV, Mr. VinMartin Ilo, also spoke. He explained how the campaign against corruption targeted the younger generation and insisted that this was done on purpose.

Targeting young children was a deliberate strategy for us, Ilo explained, “working with McArthur, because we know that if we catch them young, children have a lot of influence; they would affect their parents, friends, and neighbours, but more importantly, they will start the journey and they will run with this campaign, and that is happening.

After listing the accomplishments of the organisation, he continued, “We have been campaigning to market women, mechanics, and a host of others because these categories of Nigerians don’t get this message. We have accomplished a lot, I must say.

“As we speak, there are 20 anti-corruption school clubs, a continuous essay contest for secondary schools that has been running for more than three years, town halls held all over the place, and local women that we have interacted with and tried to mentor in this campaign have organised office holders and office seekers, and we are holding them to account for the first time by asking them, What did you promise and how are you keeping the promise? That ranks among the campaign’s greatest successes.

The programme won’t end with the support of MacArthur, an American organisation, he said, adding that the training and assistance we receive from them at Signature and Corruption Tori.

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