LP seeks cancellation of Imo governorship poll, demands fresh election

The leadership of the Labour Party has headed for the Supreme Court to seek the nullification of the November 11 Imo Governorship poll after its appeal for a fresh election was thrown out by the appeal court.

The opposition party said it perceived bias in the judgments despite presenting evidence to back its claim of over-voting in the election that returned Governor Hope Uzodimma to office.

The National Publicity Secretary of LP, Obiora Ifoh, disclosed this at a press conference held in Abuja on Monday.

The Independent National Electoral Commission had declared Uzodimma of the All Progressives Congress as the winner of the contentious poll.

The APC candidate swept all the 27 local governments in the state after he polled 540,308 votes to beat Samuel Anyanwu of the Peoples Democratic Party and Labour Party’s Athan Achonu who scored 71,503 votes and 64,081 votes respectively.

But Achonu and the party’s leadership rejected the result, alleging that the total number of voters did not match the figures reeled out by the electoral umpire.

Addressing journalists in Abuja, Ifoh argued that despite making formal requests to review the over 4,000 BVAS, which were essential to prove their case of electoral malpractice, the petitioners encountered deliberate delays and obstructions.

According to him, only 30 BVAS units were eventually released for inspection thereby frustrating their case.

He said, “The Supreme Court is expected to act decisively and uphold the electoral laws. Given the clear evidence of over-voting, we expect the court to cancel the flawed election and mandate a fresh governorship election in Imo state. This action is essential to restore public trust and uphold the integrity of the judicial system.

“The issue at hand is clear. The total number of certified accredited voters for the November 2023 governorship election, as certified by INEC, was just over 500,000. However, the total votes counted, which was used to declare the candidate of APC winner exceeded 700,000, resulting in an over-voting discrepancy of more than 200,000.

“We had raised this issue during the election as we had clear evidence of abuse of electoral practices including falsification and mutilation of result sheets, harassment of the Labour Party’s agents, snatching of ballot boxes and open vote buying. According to Section 53 of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended), any election marred by over-voting should be cancelled.

“This provision is unambiguous and does not leave room for alternative interpretations. Regrettably, despite the overwhelming evidence of over-voting, both the election tribunal and the appeal court failed to apply this clear legal standard. The situation is eerily reminiscent of the Supreme Court’s controversial decision in 2020, where a similar issue of over-voting was overlooked, leading to the installation of a candidate who had initially placed third.”