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Anambra Gov. Poll: PDP’s Obaze Rejects Results

November 20, 2017

Speaking in a telephone chat, Mr. Obaze said the results announced by INEC lacked fidelity.

Candidate of the Peoples  Democratic Party (PDP) in  Saturday’s  Anambra State governorship election, Mr. Oseloka Obaze, has rejected the outcome, which returned the incumbent, Mr. Willie Obiano.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Mr. Obiano of the of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) the winner of the election. Speaking in a telephone chat, Mr. Obaze said the results announced by INEC lacked fidelity.

He claimed that results collated from the 21 Local government areas of the state did not reflect the wishes of the voters, adding that the outcome of the election was predetermined.

"This seems to be a pre-determined result because it is not consistent with the voters' turnout and the pattern.

"It has never happened in Anambra politics that the winner wins 21 local governments.

"We need to look closely at what happened and where the incumbent governor is coming out top consistently," he said.

The PDP flagbearer also wants INEC to explain over-voting in the election.

"INEC has to give an account on why there was over-voting and why there was inconsistency between what was uploaded and what was actually voted. If you have a higher number on the chart and there were no issues where people were fully accredited and left, then how did you have higher figures in the card readers than the voting itself?" he asked.

Mr. Obaze explained that he is in the process of consulting with his supporters to decide if he will legally challenge the results. He maintained that the electoral umpire must explain the long delay in the announcement of the results, given that accreditation and voting were done at the same time.

"Accreditation and voting were done simultaneously. It should have saved an enormous amount of time. If you do accreditation and then voting later, it consumes more time. But that was not the case. So, there is not a clear-cut reason for the long delay in tabulating the results at the local government levels, except if there was some reason that we are not aware of. And that does seem clear that the  pattern that is emerging is one that you cannot say is consistent with the voting that took place at the weekend,” he lamented.

Mr. Obiano was declared winner with a total votes of 234, 071. A total of 37 political parties participated in the election. Next to Mr. Obiano was Mr. Tony Nwoye of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who polled 98,752 votes. The PDP candidate scored 70,293 to come third.

Returning officer for the election, Professor Zana Akpagu, disclosed that out of a total 2,364,134 registered voters, only 457, 311 were accredited.

He added that the total number of votes cast was 448, 771, with 422, 314 of them being valid, while 26,457 were rejected.

Meanwhile, the candidate of the United Progressive Party (UPP), Mr. Osita Chidoka, has congratulated Mr. Obiano.

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Elections