Anambra State governorship election has been declared inconclusive after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) suspended collation of results.
Professor Florence Obi, Returning Officer of the election, made the announcement because of the inability of the commission to deploy staff and materials to Ihiala Local Government Area, as a result of security threat.
You May Also Like: Let’s Insist On Electronic Transmission Of Election Results
She, therefore, announced that a supplementary election would be conducted in the 326 polling units across Ihiala on Tuesday, November 9.
“We have collated results from 20 out of 21 local government areas,” said the chief returning officer who doubles as the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Calabar in Cross River State.
She added, “The outstanding results are for Ihiala Local Government Area where for various reasons, the commission could not deploy materials yesterday (Saturday).
“Consequently, based on Constitutional considerations and provisions of the INEC Electoral Act, as well as revised regulations and guidelines for the conduct of election issued by the commission, a supplementary election is indicated for Ihiala Local Government Area.”
“Clause 47 of the Revised Regulations and Guidelines for the conduct of elections provides that supplementary elections shall be conducted where the commission due to logistic challenges is unable to deploy on Election Day,” Professor Obi said.
“Given the foregoing, it becomes imperative to bring Ihiala Local Government Area at par with the other 20 local government areas in this election before we can make a valid declaration in this election or take any further action based on the extant laws.
“Therefore, I, Professor Florence Banku Obi, in my capacity as Returning Officer for this election, hereby announce the suspension of the process of collation of results and declaration of a winner until a supplementary election is held in the 326 polling units in Ihiala Local Government Area of the state.
“I have conferred with the commission, being the body that fixes the date for the election, and the commission has decided that the supplementary election will take place on Tuesday, 9th November 2021. Therefore, the collation of results shall resume thereafter.”
You May Also Like: Declaring Bandits As Terrorists Will Mark The End Of Nigeria —Gumi
She appealed to party agents and the people of the state to support INEC during the supplementary election to ensure that the election “is brought to a satisfactory conclusion, for the good of the people of Anambra State, the people of Nigeria, and to the Glory of God”.
Meanwhile, the candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, Prof Chukwuma Soludo, leads with a total vote of 103, 946.
The final result is as follows:
A – 1793
AA – 76
AAC- 580
ADC – 313
ADP – 743
APC – 42942
APGA – 103946
APM – 288
APP – 133
BP- 173
LP- 2697
NNPP – 111
NRM – 207
PDP – 51322
PRP – 428
SDP – 782
YPP – 20917
ZLP – 2070.
Total valid votes: 229521
Rejected votes: 7841
Total votes cast: 237362
