The candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the November 11 Imo Governorship Election, Sen. Athan Achonu, has rejected the Imo State Governorship election results declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
In a statement issued in Owerri on Sunday, Senator Achonu further rejected the results of the election, saying he would seek redress through the courts.
He said that he has not lost hope in the judiciary, adding that there are so many men of integrity therein and he shall reclaim their mandate.
He described the election as “marred by irregularities including vote buying and physical assaults of LP agents and deserving of outright cancellation.
Achonu said that voting in many locations was done without BVAS accreditation, contrary to the assurances of the INEC before the election.
He alleged compromise on the part of security personnel, adding that “ recorded evidence abound such as that of a police officer who was beaten by voters for attempting to snatch a ballot box “.
He said: “Our democracy was raped in the full glare of security personnel whose salaries we pay from our common wealth”.
The LP pointed out that collation was suddenly moved from the ward centres to LG centres and only agents of the All Progressives Congress (APC) were allowed into the collation centres, agents of other parties were locked out.
He however condemned the assault and detention of the LP Chairman in Imo, Mr Callistus Ihejiagwa, at the state collation centre, and called for the immediate arrest of those who beat him up.
He said: “My party Chairman was beaten up at the collation centre as is evident in a widely circulated video and instead of arresting those who beat him, the police arrested and detained him
“Let’s save the drift into anarchy, let’s save our country and her democracy, there was no election yesterday and we call on the INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu to cancel the purported results “,
Achonu reassured his supporters of his gratitude for their unflinching solidarity in the face of provocation during the November 11 Governorship Election.
He commended supporters of the LP for their steadfastness and assured them that he would reclaim the mandate.
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