Bye-election: “This Is Not Democracy, This Is Puppetry” — Amamgbo Accuses INEC, APGA of Systemic Sabotage

Barrister Donald Chidi Amamgbo, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) candidate in the just-concluded Anambra South Senatorial bye-election, has decried what he described as “systemic sabotage and desecration of democratic norms” that marred the exercise.

Addressing journalists at a press conference in Anambra on Tuesday, Amamgbo alleged that the electoral process was deliberately compromised through collusion, manipulation, and disenfranchisement aimed at silencing the will of the people. He accused both the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the ruling All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) of orchestrating a scheme to suppress opposition voices and subvert democracy in the state.

Below is his statement in full:

PRESS CONFERENCE BY BARR. DONALD CHIDI AMAMGBO, ADC CANDIDATE, ANAMBRA SOUTH SENATORIAL BY-ELECTION, ON THE SYSTEMIC SABOTAGE OF THE ELECTORAL PROCESS. 19TH AUGUST, 2025

Good morning distinguished ladies and gentlemen of the press, fellow Nigerians, Ndi Anambra South.

I have invited you here today not merely to share my personal disappointment over the just-concluded Anambra South Senatorial Bye-Election, but to expose a dangerous pattern of systemic sabotage, desecration of all democratic norms, collusion, and deliberate disenfranchisement that threatens the very soul of our democracy.

Elections are meant to be the ultimate expression of the people’s will. Instead, what we witnessed was a carefully orchestrated charade designed to obfuscate, suffocate and decimate the people’s voice and choice. Ultimately undermining the credibility of the process.

On the eve of the elections, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) deliberately withheld the tags for our ward and local government collation agents, effectively crippling ADC’s ability to defend the votes of our people at all critical stages of collation. Why one might ask? The answer is the infantile attempt to disillusion and debase ADC the primary opposition party in Nigeria. Look no further than the loquacious and bombastic statement of Professor Charles Soludo that “Labor and ADC parties are dead in Anambra”. If that was so then Anambra South is an electoral crime scene and Professor Soludo election malfeasance is the directly to blame.

In Ihiala, INEC went further by circulating a doctored list of polling agents that did not correspond with the authentic list duly submitted by our party and uploaded on the INEC portal. These are not mistakes. They are not clerical oversights. They are acts of sabotage.

I ask: How can an election be free and fair when one party is denied collation agents? That is like asking a team to play football blindfolded while the referee looks the other way.

This sabotage was not random. It was a deliberate and deviant orchestration by the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) a political “Cult” in Anambra.

Very devastating is the fact that APGA government has normalised vote buying knowing fully well that the hungry exploited citizens of Anambra state will collect money to vote just to survive another day.

At the centre of this charade is a Senator-elect tethered to the control of Governor Charles Soludo. This is not democracy. This is puppetry.

Ndi Anambra South do not need a puppet senator. They need an independent voice who owes allegiance only to the people, not to any godfather or governor.

This election was not just about Donald Amamgbo or ADC. The real victims are the people of Anambra South. They were denied the chance to elect a candidate who campaigned transparently, who funded his own movement, who made no deals with godfathers, and who pledged to serve only the people.

When you deny the people their choice, you deny them justice. When you destroy faith in the ballot, you destroy democracy itself. Every time this happens, our children pay the price. A society that starves its people of hope cannot prosper.

This election must not be swept under the carpet as “one of those things.” It is a cautionary sad tale about how vested interests and compromised institutions continue to hijack then eviscerate the people’s will.

Today, I call for: A thorough review of the entire electoral process in Anambra South to expose and address the sabotage that took place.

Institutional reforms within INEC to guarantee independence, transparency, and accountability.

Proper voter and agent education, so that our people can understand their rights, defend their votes, and resist manipulation.

An end to the culture of collusion where political parties, godfathers, and electoral umpires work hand-in-hand to suppress genuine democratic choice.

Fellow Nigerians, Ndi Anambra South, democracy is not a favour given to the people; it is their right. The mandate of our people cannot continue to be stolen through systemic sabotage and manipulation.

This struggle is bigger than me. It is about securing the future of our democracy and restoring faith in the ballot. I will continue to stand with the people, to speak for the voiceless, and to resist every attempt to reduce our democracy to an empty and banal ritual.

Anambra South deserves better. Nigeria deserves better. And until we achieve that, I will not stop speaking.

Thank you.

God bless Anambra South, and God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Signed:

Barr. Donald Chidi Amamgbo

ADC Candidate, Anambra South Senatorial Bye-Election