2027: LP Fires Back at APC Over Alleged Plot to Burn Bende INEC Collation Centre

The Labour Party (LP) has dismissed allegations by the All Progressives Congress (APC) that it plans to disrupt the collation of results at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) collation centre in Bende ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Naija News reports that the APC, in a statement by its State Publicity Secretary, Uche Aguoru, claimed the LP planned to disrupt the collation process and burn the Bende Local Government headquarters, where the INEC collation centre has reportedly been located for decades.

The APC stated that the LP, allegedly anticipating defeat in the election, had written a petition to INEC purportedly originating from the APC.

According to the APC, the petition called for the relocation of the Bende Collation Centre to Umuahia, citing an alleged plan to burn the Bende Local Government headquarters.

It said the petition further requested that, if relocation to Umuahia was not possible, the collation centre should be moved to an open central school in Bende town.

However, the LP dismissed the allegation as false, accusing the APC of deliberately raising alarm and attempting to create tension in the state ahead of the elections.

In a statement by its State Publicity Secretary, Emenike Iroegbu, the party accused the APC of “deliberately inciting hatred, brewing bad blood and manufacturing false alarm” capable of disturbing peaceful coexistence in the state.

The LP said the APC had raised the allegation after what it described as the failure of its alleged “clannish incitement strategy.”

The party said: “Having realized that their clannish incitement strategy has failed, the APC came wailing, crying foul and levying wild allegations about an imagined plot by the Labour Party to burn the INEC collation centre for Bende Federal Constituency.”