APC: Results unacceptable without voting in all local govts

The All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday warned that it would not accept the results of the  governorship election  if  'voting does not take place in all local governments, especially in the party's strongholds of Idemili North and South as well as Akwa South.'

The Interim National Publicity Secretary of the party, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, in a statement, also condemned INEC for 'its apparently-contrived logistic nightmare that has left thousands of voters unable to exercise their franchise.'

It demanded the 'immediate removal' of the Resident Electoral Commissioner for Anambra, Prof. Chukwuemeka Onukogu, for allegedly aiding and abetting irregularities in the election.

The APC said it was 'totally astonished to learn that INEC has confirmed that materials meant for Idemili North Local Government, which has 180,000 voters, have been hijacked, without saying who hijacked the ballot papers and why and without explaining why the materials meant for APGA and PDP strongholds were not hijacked.'

The party said equally astonishing was 'the fact that the voter's registers for Idemili South, the direct Local Government of the APC candidate, Dr. Chris Ngige, did not contain the names of voters in the local government, despite the assurances by INEC Chairman Attahiru Jega.

It said: ''Before the election, political parties were given voter's registers that largely contained the names of most voters. However, about four days to the election, Prof Jega said at an interactive stakeholders' forum that there were problems with the registers, which would be rectified before the election.

''However, when the supposedly-corrected registers were brought back, most of the authentic names in them have disappeared, without explanation.''

Recalling the REC's performance in the 2011 election, the APC said:' 'In 2011, when Prof. Onukogu conducted the general elections in the state, he was very partial.

'During the Onitsha South 2 House of Assembly constituency and Idemili South House of Assembly polls, he declared the results of both inconclusive, only for him to announce the results at 12 midnight. After we challenged the results in court and a rerun was ordered, we won both constituencies.

''We subsequently petitioned INEC and the Commission assured us that the same person will not be allowed to conduct subsequent election.

'Alas, he was left in place to do another damage to INEC as an institution through his glaring incompetence and partiality, which have seriously affected the credibility of this governorship election.''