By Cajetan Mmuta, Awka
Supporters of candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in Saturday’s governorship election in Anambra State, Prof Charles Soludo, went into jubilation in Awka yesterday after results of 19 out of 21 local government areas were released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The electoral body had yet to declare any candidate winner of the exercise, but from the 19 LGAs results so far declared by the INEC yesterday, the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Soludo, won in 17.
Election results for two local governments, Ihiala and Orumba North, are yet to be announced.
INEC officials at the collation centre in Awka declared that no election was held in Ihiala LGA, while the result for Orumba North was cancelled due to violence.
So far, Soludo polled 99, 147 votes in 17 LGAs, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Young Progressives Party (YPP) won one LGA with 49,475 and 20,262 respectively, while the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate who came third with 40,270 votes did not win any LGA.
Many Anambra residents defied the heavy security presence in the state as they took to the streets to celebrate the victory of the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) who will succeed incumbent Governor Willie Obiano if declared winner.
Soludo had been tipped by political pundits as the most popular candidate to win the elections ahead of his key rivals, Senator Andy Ubah, candidate of the APC, and Valentine Ozigbo of the PDP.
However, the state Chairman of APC, Chief Basil Ejidike, raised the alarm over the outcome of the exercise, calling for the total cancellation of the entire process.
Condemning the results of the keenly contested election, he said, “What is happening in Anambra is never an election but big-time electoral fraud and malpractice. We want the whole world to hear our voice that we will never accept the outcome of the Anambra Gubernatorial election.”
Ejidike alleged that “the candidate of APGA, Soludo, and the sitting governor, Willie Obiano, manipulated the whole electoral system and we’ll stand to resist it.”
A furious Ejidike further claimed that “Ndi Anambra wants an APC governor and there’s nothing anyone can do to deny them that opportunity. We virtually won in all the local government but Willie Obiano and Charles Soludo through the instrumentality of corrupt-minded INEC officers subverted the whole process in favour of APGA.”
“We want INEC to cancel the election and fix a date for a fresh election devoid of manipulations and malpractices. But if INEC goes ahead to announce the results, we will challenge the election process at the court of law, up to Supreme Court. Nobody can intimidate us”.
While Ejidike rebuked INEC and riled at the process, civil society organizations and many election observers deployed to monitor the exercise have commended the process which they described as generally peaceful.
There were however reports in some voting points and local governments where the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BIVAS, deployed for the conduct of the November 6 polls floundered and disappointed.
As more results of the election were released by the INEC, it became clear why the commission completely cancelled the results in Orumba North and Ihiala local government area of the state.
It would be recalled that there were hitches due to technical challenges posed by malfunctioned Bimodal Machines and other problems that arose due to the late arrival of electoral materials and violence as well as other complaints during the exercise in some local government areas.
However, available results declared so far indicated that Soludo of APGA was ahead of other contenders with a wide margin to beat other rivals like YPP’s Senator Patrick Ifeanyi Uba and Chief Obiora Okonkwo of the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP).
The extension of the voting time and day for the election according to the INEC was to accord those who ordinarily would have been denied the opportunity to vote due to the observed hitches so that they could exercise their civic responsibility.
Results released so far showed that APGA had swept the polls in the election conducted in Awka South with 12, 891 votes, APC 2595 votes, PDP- 5498 votes, and YPP – 919 votes.
In Oyi LGA: APC – 2830 votes, APGA -6, 133 votes, PDP -2484, YPP- 900, and ZLP – 80 votes. In Ayamelum local government area, APC polled 2409 votes, APGA -3424 votes, PDP- 2, 804 votes, YPP -407 votes, and ZLP- 296 Votes.
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At Anaocha LGA, the APC -2085 votes, APGA- 6911 votes, PDP- 5108 Votes, and YPP- 868 votes. In Anambra East LGA; APC -2034, APGA-9746, PDP- 1380, and YPP -559. From Idemili South LGA: APC – 1039, APGA-2312, PDP- 2016, and YPP – 752 votes.
For Dunukofia LGA, APC polled 1991 votes, APGA scored 4, 124 votes, PDP -1680 Votes, YPP -1360, and ZLP -36 votes. In Nnewi North LGA: APC – 1278, APGA-3369, PDP-1511, YPP- 6485. Results in Njikoka LGA: APC -3216, APGA -8803, PDP- 3409, YPP- 924, and ZLP- 81. Onitsha South LGA: APC -2050, APGA- 4281, PDP -2253, YPP -271, and ZLP – 37. In Onitsha North LGA: APC -3909, APGA -5587, PDP – 3781, and YPP – 682.
Reports that emanated from Oba (1) and Oba (2) in Idemili South local government area indicated that there was no election in the areas because an INEC ad-hoc staff (SPO) absconded with 41 out of 42 result sheets and there was also confusion as gunshots rented the air in Oba (1) during the Collation of election results there.
There were also reports of a floodgate of petitions by aggrieved stakeholders over the hitches that trailed the conduct of the election.
Concerned stakeholders have commended the voters for a peaceful and violent free process and have called on the INEC for more improvement in their technology to avoid the various complaints and other challenges facing it.
Indications emerged that votes were cancelled virtually in a substantial number of polling units in most of the local government areas across the state due to various forms of irregularities and malfunctioned Bimodal Accreditation System during the election on Saturday and Sunday.
This is as the Collation Officer in charge of Orumba North disclosed that he was coerced to sign the result sheet under duress and abducted by suspected political thugs who in collaboration with the Electoral Officer (EO) Dr Oluyemi, locked him in a toilet after they forced him to sign the result sheets.
In Orumba North LGA, there was no election following the confusion between the Returning Officer and the Electoral Officer, police, and suspected political thugs which led to the cancellation of results of polling in the area.
In Abatete there was reported snatching of electoral materials which led to the cancellation of elections in the area. In Ukeh, there was reported poor deployment of materials which prompted a reaction from voters who insisted that except the electoral materials were completed, they would not cast their votes in the election.
Also, in Umuchi, the BVAS malfunctioned while there was confusion in Ideani while there was no election in Nkpor and Obosi one and two as well as Oraukwu.
A total of 47 polling units with a total of 24,107 registered voters were affected by the cancellation exercise.
Stakeholders believe that INEC will today (Monday) formally declare Soludo as the duly elected governor of Anambra state.
Last night, many children who are beneficiaries of the Soludo Scholarship Programme besieged his country home where they sang victory songs.
