By Cajetan Mmuta
Eleven political parties and their candidates have filed petitions at the Anambra State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal to challenge the result of the November 6, 2021 Governorship election and the declaration of Professor Charles Sokudo as the winner by the Independent National Election Commission.

This is contrary to the expectation by the ruling All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and its supporters that it is going to be a tea party for Governor-elect, Prof. Soludo and his party.

Although members of the Election Petitions Tribunal are yet to be inaugurated in the state.

The ruling APGA had expressed its readiness for any party or person out to challenge the outcome of the poll in the court.

Special Adviser to Governor Wille Obiano on Political Matters, Barr Ifeatu Obiokoye told newsmen in the state that APGA was not losing any sleep over the election petitions.

He said, “Our party the All Progressives Grand Alliance won the election and we are prepared to defend our mandate at the tribunal.”

According to him, “We shall take it as it comes and we are not losing sleep over those petitions and do not lose sight of the game plan of a particular party and petitioner by sponsoring some lesser political parties to go to tribunal and later withdraw from the suits and collapse into their benefactors at the end of the day.”

However, the parties and their candidates are poised to challenge the victory of Prof. Chukwuma Soludo over alleged irregularities and other electoral malpractices during the exercise held across the 21 local government areas of the state.

Secretary of the tribunal, Barr Surajo Gusau disclosed the candidates and political parties who have filed petitions in Awka the state capital.

It was feared that the petitioners would not be able to beat the Monday deadline for the expiration of the 21 days from the date of the conduct of the election as stipulated for by the Electoral Act.

Findings showed that the political parties had between Monday and Tuesday made last-minute overtures to file their petitions contrary to the expectations in some camps that it would be a walkover for the Governor-elect and his party.

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Among the parties that have filed petitions to challenge INEC’s declaration of Soludo as winner include; Senator Andy Uba of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Dr. Godwin Maduka of Accord Party, and ten others.

Uba in his petition is calling for a declaration that he won a majority of the valid votes cast in the said election.

Also, Action Democratic Party (ADP) and its candidate Prince Adam Ume-Ezeoke in their petition are asking the tribunal to nullify the outcome of the election on the ground that the Bi-Modal Accreditation Verification System (BVAS) was not reflected in the Electoral Act and that the malfunctioning ultimately disenfranchised over ninety percent of the registered voters during the exercise.

On his part, l the Accord (A) and its candidate Dr. Godwin Maduka are asking for the nullification of the election on the ground of irregularities.

Others include the United Patriots which petitioned the tribunal on the ground of wrongful exclusion of the party’s name from the ballot paper and therefore called for the nullification of the election; the Green Party and the Action People’s Party (APP) among others.