There are indications that the All Progressives Congress may boycott the supplementary governorship election slated to hold in Ihiala local council area of Anambra State today.
The party had placed third through its candidate, Andy Ubah, who scored a little above 40,000 votes, as against All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) candidate, Charles Soludo, who led with 103,000 votes, and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Valentine Ozigbo, who followed with over 51,000 votes.
Election could not hold in Ihiala because sensitive materials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) did not arrive, owing to logistic hiccups.
Up for grabs in Ihiala are over 148,000 votes.
But the APC has already rejected the outcome of the November 6 election, alleging that the exercise was frought with irregularities and massive rigging.
The party, as such, vowed to challenge the result of the election in court, and up to the Supreme Court.
Sources within the party had told FirstNews Tuesday morning that some legal advisers counselled the party against participating in the supplementary election, if it intends to contest the result of the main election in court.
“The lawyers advised that participating in the remaining election, under the law, can be interpreted to mean that the APC believes in the process that led to the supplementary poll, and this may sufficiently jeopardise their case in the election petitions tribunal and the appellate courts,” the source, craving anonymity, disclosed.
Only on Sunday night, the APC Chairman in Anambra State, Mr. Basil Ejidike, had condemned the November 6 governorship election in the state.
Ejidike, in a statement in Awka, accused the APGA of rigging the election, in connivance with “corrupt-minded INEC officials”.
He said, “What is happening in Anambra is never an election but big time electoral fraud and malpractice.
“We want the whole world to hear our voice that we will never accept the outcome of the Anambra gubernatorial election.
“The candidate of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) and the sitting Governor, Willie Obiano, manipulated the whole electoral system and we will stand to resist it.
“Ndi Anambra wants an APC Governor and there’s nothing anyone can do to deny them that opportunity.”
But sneering at Ejidike’s condemnation of the election, the National Chairman of the APGA, Victor Oye, said he would rather commend President Muhammadu Buhari for ensuring that Saturday’s Anambra governorship election was credible.
He said that Buhari had proved to be a father by giving the INEC free hands to conduct the election without interference.
Oye said, “President Muhammadu Buhari has always been a father by allowing INEC to conduct free, fair and credible election in the country.
“He will also insist on allowing the people’s will to prevail and not the other way round.
“Left to some other people, the election would have been rigged in favour of another party.
“But he has always tell them to allow the choice of the people to prevail, that is why APGA is willing the election.”
He commended residents of the state for the peaceful conduct of the election.
“Anambra people are known to be peaceful; the violence we had sometime ago was imported; our people are not in any way associated with violence,” he stressed.
Meanwhile, an independent election observer, Yiaga Africa, through its Parallel Vote Tabulation (PVT) methodology, has validated the results of the 20 Local Governments so far released by the INEC.
In its preliminary report on Monday in Abuja, it said for 18 political parties contesting the Anambra 2021 gubernatorial election, the INEC official result of the 20 LGAs released was consistent with its Watching The Vote (WTV) estimate.
The organisation, however, noted that the release of the figures spoke only to the accuracy of the tabulation process for votes cast on Saturday, and not the overall credibility of the 2021 Anambra gubernatorial election.
Yiaga Africa spoke during a briefing jointly addressed by its Executive Director, Samson Itodo; Board Member, Ezenwa Nwagwu, and Director of Programs, Cynthia Mbamalu.
“INEC has so far released results for 20 LGAs. While the election is not yet over and voting has still to take place in Ihiala LGA, Yiaga Africa’s PVT can provide independent verification if the results announced thus far reflect the ballots cast on Saturday, November 6.
“The release of these figures speaks only to the accuracy of the tabulation process for votes cast on Saturday, November 6 and not the overall credibility of the 2021 Anambra gubernatorial election. As noted, the election is not yet over,” it noted.
