The Labour Party’s leadership is pursuing the nullification of the November 11 Imo Governorship poll at the Supreme Court after their appeal for a fresh election was rejected by the Appeal Court.
The opposition party expressed its discontent with the judgments, despite presenting evidence that supports their claim of over-voting in the election that brought Governor Hope Uzodimma to office.
The National Publicity Secretary of LP, Obiora Ifoh, made this information public during a press briefing held in Abuja on Monday, August 12, 2024.
In the highly-contentious poll, Uzodimma of the All Progressives Congress (APC) was declared the winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
All 27 local government areas in the state were won by the APC candidate, Uzodimma who garnered 540,308 votes, overcoming Samuel Anyanwu of the Peoples Democratic Party and Labour Party’s Athan Achonu, who garnered 71,503 votes and 64,081 votes respectively.
Achonu and the party’s leadership rejected the outcome, arguing that the total number of voters did not match the figures provided by the electoral umpire.
Ifoh claimed to journalists in Abuja that petitioners faced deliberate delays and obstructions even though they had made formal requests to review the over 4,000 BVAS, which were crucial to proving their cases of electoral malpractice.
According to him, the case was hindered by the fact that only 30 BVAS units were released for inspection.
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 verily 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.”
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