The candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the last weekend governorship election in Anambra State, Senator Andy Uba, has rejected the outcome of the process.
The candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, Professor Charles Soludo, was declared winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and he is expected to receive his Certificate of Return from the electoral umpire on Friday in Awka, Anambra State capital.
Spokesperson, Senator Andy Uba Campaign Organisation, Ambassador Jerry Ugokwe, in a statement, on Thursday, alleged that the election was marred with irregularities.
He specifically cited the malfunctioning of the Biometric Voters’ Accreditation System which he noted cast a slur on the election.
He alleged that “in polling units where the Biometric Voters’ Accreditation System malfunctioned, INEC went ahead to conduct the elections manually. There were numerous cases where votes announced by INEC exceeded the number of accredited voters in polling units.”
The APC candidate in the statement further dropped a hint that he might approach the election petition tribunal to retrieve what he called a stolen electoral mandate.
He insisted that the outcome of the election did not reflect the wishes of the Anambra electorate.
The statement read in part: “The Senator Andy Uba Campaign Organization has rejected the result of the just-concluded Anambra State Governorship election as declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
“The outcome of the election was a charade and did not reflect the wishes of the people of Anambra State.
“Our popular candidate, Senator Andy Uba is a victim of widespread electoral fraud and manipulation by INEC in cohorts with the Willie Obiano Regime and the security forces deployed to oversee the Anambra State Governorship Election.
“The elections were characterised by widespread irregularities, intimidation and voter suppression in order to clear the path for the inglorious ‘victory’ of APGA in the polls.
“For instance, in polling units where the Biometric Voters’ Accreditation System malfunctioned, INEC went ahead to conduct the elections manually. There were numerous cases where votes announced by INEC exceeded the number of accredited voters in polling units.
“Another clear manifestation of collusion between the Obiano Administration and INEC was the publishing of results on the Social Media handles of APGA even before the official announcement by INEC. Yet mysteriously, the votes announced in advance by APGA always corresponded correctly with the official figures released by INEC.
“It is inconceivable that our candidate, who polled over 200,000 votes in the APC primary election would be allocated a slightly above 43,000 votes by INEC.
“It is surprising that APGA that lost almost 80 per cent of its stalwarts through defection to the APC before the election came out ‘victorious’. A sitting APGA Deputy Governor, seven members of the House of Representatives, 10 members of the Anambra State House of Assembly, the APGA party’s member of Board of Trustees, many serving SA’s, SSA’s, in addition to a serving PDP Senator all defected to the APC very timely before the election, yet APGA emerged ‘victorious’. This is quite ridiculous!
“From all indications, the only people remaining in APGA at the time of the election were Governor Obiano and his household and a few staff of the Government House as well as Prof. Soludo and his household but the majority of the electorates in Anambra State have moved to the APC. There was definitely no way the carcass of APGA could have defeated the APC without the active collusion and manipulation by INEC and the Obiano Administration.
“What happened on November 6, 2021, fell far below the acceptable standard of a free and fair election and can best be described as an electoral fraud perpetrated by the INEC, Willie Obiano Administration and the security forces.
“We have noted that starting from the appointment of INEC Adhoc staff, who mostly came from Calabar to the distribution of electoral materials and the retention of the Resident Electoral Commissioner, who supervised the second term election of Governor Obiano, it was crystal clear that the game plan was to overturn the popular wishes of the people of Anambra State in the biggest electoral heist of all time in Nigeria’s political history.
While we appeal to our supporters to remain peaceful and calm, we will not relent in pursuing our stolen electoral mandate to the limit of the law through all the constitutional means available as the facts on the ground did not in any way reflect the outcome of the elections as announced by the obviously compromised INEC.”
Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, however, dismissed the allegation that his Commission connived with the APGA candidate, Charles Soludo, to swing victory in the latter favour.
Speaking through his media aide, Rotimi Oyekanmi, the INEC Chairman dismissed the allegation as baseless and illogical.
“There is no iota of truth in the allegation by the Andy UBA Campaign Organisation that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) connived with any candidate to win the Anambra Governorship election. The Commission does not rig elections. It is not in our character to do so.
“The truth of the matter is that the result of the 2021 Anambra State Governorship result as declared by INEC is the true reflection of the preference of the majority of the good people of Anambra State. All accredited observers and major stakeholders have attested to this fact.
“To that extent, the allegation is baseless, watery and illogical. Nigerians should disregard it.”
