Imo Governorship candidates, Senator Samuel Anyanwu of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and Senator Athan Achonu of the Labour Party (LP), jointly issued a seven-day ultimatum to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to cancel the recent Imo governorship election.
Speaking in Owerri on Monday, they contested the election outcome where INEC declared the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate victorious, citing alleged massive rigging, diversion of electoral materials to private homes, and pre-thumbprinted ballots.
Truthlive news report that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Governor Hope Uzodimma of the All Progressives Congress (APC) winner of the November 11, 2023 governorship election in the state.
He polled 540, 308 votes to defeat his closest rivals, PDP’s Anyanwu, who scored 71,503 votes and LP’s Achonu who got 64,081.
Speaking, the governorship candidate of the LP, Senator Achonu said: “Where there was accreditation, results were already uploaded before 10 am, that is even when voting was ongoing. From the information available to us even the Electoral officers were sharing the money with other INEC officials and at the same time gave them already written results to upload.
“We have written to the INEC Chairman calling for a total review of the election or outright cancellation of the election. That was why the chairman of LP, called on the INEC to check their IREV for authentic results. They did not listen to him because they had planned it.”
Also speaking, the governorship candidate of the PDP, Senator Anyanwu, said: “I feel so ashamed about what the INEC has done. INEC promised a free, fair and credible election. But empty vehicles were moved to Owerri for voters from Orsu LGA. They used armoured vehicles, and security operatives to carry out these irregularities. How come Orsu gave about 18,000 votes? This election is a charade. There must be a review of these results. How come a police officer was caught on video carrying ballot boxes?
“It was not an election. it was a war. Over 70 percent there was no collation of results. This a PDP state, where the governorship election took two days to conduct. The INEC has seven days to review these elections or cancel outrightly.”