The results of Saturday’s governorship election in Imo state have been sought for review and cancelation by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Labour Party (LP), and other opposition political groups.
Reactions to the results of the off-circle poll were uniform throughout the parties.
During Monday’s joint news briefing in Owerri, they each had a separate speech.
The African Action Congress (AAC), the Young Progressives Party (YPP), and the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) are the other political groups that joined the appeal, according to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
Sen. Athan Achonu, the LP candidate, asked for an open review and the annulment of the results, calling the procedure “a complete sham and a rape of democracy.”
Achonu voiced dismay over “the inability of security personnel to protect the ballot” and mentioned other anomalies, such as improper voter accreditation and vote buying.
In order to quell the curiosity of the Imo people and Nigerians overall, Achonu said, “I’m calling on all lovers of democracy as well as Igbo sons and INEC to save our democracy by carrying out a holistic review of the election.”
Sen. Samuel Anyanwu of the PDP also commended the people of Imo for coming out to vote despite intimidation.
Anyanwu expressed shock at reports that security agents had been compromised, as shown by widely shared films on the internet.
He claimed that because of a flawed accreditation, excessive voting had become the norm, with no recourse to morality or the law.
“Vote purchasing and election material theft occurred in full view of security personnel at polling places.
Thus, we demand that the poll be reviewed and canceled.
Tony Ejiogu, the APGA candidate, called the irregularities in the election “a bad precedent to set,” which is why the procedure and outcome need to be reviewed.
He claimed that if INEC would not examine the election and the procedures that led to the declaration of a winner, the party’s intense social media and offline campaigning would be in useless.
It is “unbelievable that according to the announced result, he could not win his Mbaitoli Local Government Area,” stated Dr. Kemdi Opara of the YPP.”INEC needs to fix its reputation.
The INEC result is not a true representation of the situation, thus we need a paradigm shift,” he declared.
PDP mainstay Mr. Mike Ikokwu expressed concern about indications of excessive voting in several areas of the state and urged INEC to evaluate the results as soon as possible in accordance with the election laws.
Mr. Callistus Ihejiagwa, the state’s LP chairman, stated that the poll should be examined because results for locations where elections were not held were posted, allowing for unrestricted voting.
“INEC reported that 500,000 votes were cast for the APC alone.
However, the server shows that only roughly 300,000 people were properly certified.
“This charade needs to be examined,” he declared.
