…Election might be declared inconclusive
As collation of results in the Anambra State Governorship Election continues at the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC), headquarters in Awka, the State capital, the candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Charles Soludo, has taken an early lead.
Soludo, a former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has won 10 of the 11 local government areas announced so far by the collation officers.
Other top contenders in the election are Senator Andy Uba, of the All Progressives Congress, (APC), who has won one local government so far; Valentine Ozigbo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and Senator Ifeanyi Ubah, of the Young Progressive Party, (YPP), who also has one local government area to his credit.
However, INEC may not declare anyone winner of the election, which began on November, 6; although the ruling APGA has maintained its lead by the results announced so far by the Commission, indications show that the party may not be declared the winner.
The collation officers for two local government areas, (Ihiala and Orumba-North), said, at the INEC collation centre, that elections did not hold in their local governments.
While Prof. Chukwuma Soludo leads his closest challenger, Ozigbo, with over 45,000 votes, Ihiala local government area alone has over 148,000 registered voters. The election may thus be declared inconclusive, to allow for rerun elections in the two affected local governments and other polling units where elections did not hold.
The collation of the State’s election result continued yesterday and so far, the results of 21 LGAs have been turned in.
Meanwhile, the APGA National Chairman, Chief Victor Oye, on Sunday commended President Muhammadu Buhari for ensuring that the Anambra State governorship election was credible.
Oye, who spoke with newsmen in Awka, said the President had proven to be a father to all Nigerians by giving the INEC free hands to conduct the election without interference.
