The candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the just-concluded Anambra governorship election, Senator Andy Uba, has rejected the outcome of the exercise.
Uba rejected the governorship election results in a statement released on Thursday by the spokesperson of his Campaign Organization, Ambassador Jerry Ugokwe.
Recall that the candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Chukwuma Soludo, who won 19 out of 21 Local Council in the state, was declared the winner of the election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The APC candidate accused INEC, security operatives and the Anambra state government of engaging in widespread electoral fraud and manipulation which saw him lose the poll.
Uba stated that the election was characterized by widespread irregularities, intimidation and voter suppression in order to allow APGA and Soludo to win the exercise.
The statement reads: “Our popular candidate, Senator Andy Uba is a victim of widespread electoral fraud and manipulation by INEC in cohort with the Willie Obiano Regime and the security forces deployed to oversee the Anambra State Governorship Election.
“The elections were characterized by widespread irregularities, intimidation and voter suppression in order to clear the path for the inglorious ‘victory’ of APGA in the polls.
“For instance, in polling units where the Biometric Voters’ Accreditation System malfunctioned, INEC went ahead to conduct the elections manually. There were numerous cases where votes announced by INEC exceeded the number of accredited voters in polling units.
“Another clear manifestation of collusion between the Obiano Administration and INEC was the publishing of results on the Social Media handles of APGA even before the official announcement by INEC. Yet mysteriously, the votes announced in advance by APGA always corresponded correctly with the official figures released by INEC.
“It is inconceivable that our candidate, who polled over 200,000 votes in the APC primary election would be allocated slightly above 43,000 votes by INEC.
“It is surprising that APGA that lost almost 80% of its stalwarts through defection to the APC before the election came out ‘victorious’. A sitting APGA Deputy Governor, seven members of the House of Representatives, 10 members of the Anambra State House of Assembly, the APGA party’s member of Board of Trustees, many serving SA’s, SSA’s, in addition to a serving PDP Senator all defected to the APC very timely before the election, yet APGA emerged ‘victorious. This is quite ridiculous!”
Uba wondered how APGA which lost most of its stalwarts through defection to the APC before the election was declared the winner.
The APC candidate added that the November 6 governorship election was not a credible, free and fair exercise and can best be described as an electoral fraud.
He added: “From all indications, the only people remaining in APGA at the time of the election were Governor Obiano and his household and a few staff of the Government House as well as Prof. Soludo and his household but the majority of the electorates in Anambra State have moved to the APC. There was definitely no way the carcass of APGA could have defeated the APC without the active collusion and manipulation by INEC and the Obiano Administration.
“What happened on November 6, 2021, fell far below the acceptable standard of a free and fair election and can best be described as an electoral fraud perpetrated by the INEC, Willie Obiano Administration and the security forces.
“We have noted that starting from the appointment of INEC Adhoc staff, who mostly came from Calabar to the distribution of electoral materials and the retention of the Resident Electoral Commissioner, who supervised the second term election of Governor Obiano, it was crystal clear that the game plan was to overturn the popular wishes of the people of Anambra State in the biggest electoral heist of all time in Nigeria’s political history.
“While we appeal to our supporters to remain peaceful and calm, we will not relent in pursuing our stolen electoral mandate to the limit of the law through all the constitutional means available as the facts on the ground did not in any way reflect the outcome of the elections as announced by the obviously compromised INEC.”
This article was originally published on Naija News