…Awaits Outcome of Reschedule Poll in Ihiala
…As Intersociety Maintains 250,000 Voters Were Disenfranchised

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared the November 6 governorship election in Anambra State inconclusive, even as the Candidate of the All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA, Prof Charles Chukwuma Soludo, has clinched victory in 18 LGAs, amounting to more than two thirds of the state.

This followed the suspension of collation of results pending the conduct of the election in Ihiala Local Government Area where election did not hold due to security and other logistical challenges. This is coming amid claims by Intersociety that 250,000 were unable to perform their civic duty due to the non functioning of Bi-modal Voters’ Accreditation System (BVAS).

INEC Returning Officer for the Anambra Governorship election, Prof Florence Obi made the announcement in Awka in the wee hours of Monday, November 8, 2021.

Obi, who is also the vice chancellor, University of Calabar, announced that a winner would only be announced when the election is conducted in Ihiala tomorrow, Tuesday, November 9.

She explained that election could not hold in the LGA due to security reasons.

Quoting relevant sections of the Electoral Act and the nation’s Constitution, Obi said it would be wrong to announce the result without allowing people in 131 polling units in Ihiala to exercise their franchise.

According to her, it becomes imperative to bring Ihiala at par with other local government areas before declaring the result.

”As the Electoral Officer, I hereby announce the suspension of result until elections are held in all the polling units in Ihiala.

”Supplementary election will take place in the area on Nov. 9,” she disclosed.

However before suspending collation, Obi had given total number of votes already scored by the candidates.

She said that Prof. Soludo of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) polled a total of 103,946 votes followed by Mr Valentine Ozigbo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who scored 51,322 votes to emerged second while Senator Andy Uba, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate got a total of 42,942 votes to clinch third position.

Obi said that Soludo won in 18 out of the 20 Local Government Areas of the State already declared.

Obi listed the areas where Soludo won to include; Dunukofia, Awka South, Oyi, Anaocha, Ayamelum, Anambra East, Idemili South and Onitsha South.

Other LGAs won by the APGA candidate according to her, are Njikoka, Orumba South, Onitsha North, Idemili North, Ekwusigo, Aguata, Orumba North and Nnewi South Local Government Areas.

The PDP candidate won in Ogbaru with 3,445 votes, APGA scored second while APC came third in the same council.

Senator Ifeanyi Uba of the Young Progressive Party (YPP) also won in his home Local Government, Nnewi North in spite of coming a distant fourth in the overall score card with 20,917 votes.

The returning officer said that since no election held in Ihiala, the people must be given chance like others to participate in the process.

Obi stated that total number of valid votes already collated was 229,521, void votes 7,841 while total number of votes cast was 237,362.

Commending all parties for their support, she revealed that supplementary election would be held only in Ihiala.

Quoting relevant sections of the Electoral Act, she noted that Section 22 of the Constitution provides for re-run in the event of security challenge.

She said that the final result will be announced after completing the election in Ihiala.

The former CBN Governor is already savouring his victory:
“A cool Sunday evening. It is indeed the Lord’s day and we must first thank God almighty for his mercy.

“Indeed, ‘many are the afflictions of the Righteous, but the Lord delivereth him from them all’. Good evening my people”, Soludo wrote in his Istagram page.

Meanwhile, INEC has been accused of being “inescapably responsible for massive disenfranchisement of over 250,000 registered voters who also hold PVCs and who defied raging state actor and non-state actor security threats and came out in their large numbers to cast their votes in the yesterday’s 6th November 2021 Anambra Governorship Election.”

According to the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety), in a press statement on Sunday,

“Over 250,000 voters were disenfranchised by INEC and its ICT following widespread failure of the Commission’s voters’ capturing machines or “Bi-modal Voters’ Accreditation System or BVAS”. The magnitude of the INEC’s mass disenfranchisement of Anambra voters is historically unheard of and first of its kind in the history of elections in the State in particular and the country in general.”

The statement signed by Emeka Umeagbalasi, Chinwe Umeche, and Chidimma Udegbunam, says, “INEC’s mass disenfranchisement affecting over 250,000 voters also outnumbers those chased away or forced out of the State by drafted security forces as well as the self-determination agitators. While INEC and its ICT are responsible for disenfranchisement of over 250,000 voters with PVCs, security forces and agitators accounted for threat-disenfranchisement of over 200,000 others.”

Intersociety, a major voice and stakeholder in the Anambra State electoral processes since 2010, had consistently maintained that though the State, densely populated and atmospheric network friendly, has a towering voting population of over 2.5m including about 2.2m PVCs holders as at recent updates. “The State’s actual voting population or voters capable of coming out to vote especially in the absence of state actor or non-state actor security threats and other unsafe conditions is projected at 700,000-800,000.

“However, this number is reduced to 200,000-300,000 voters with PVCs especially during the situation of insecurity and other unsafe conditions. The recording of maximum of 40% voter turnout especially during Governorship Polls and in situation of relative security and other safe conditions is technically blamed on the domination of the State’s adult population by “People of Blue-collar background or culture” or ‘Non People of the Book’ or those with ‘republican social setting’. We also have prior to the Nov 6 2021 Anambra Governorship Poll revisited the realities on the ground and found that the total number of voters with PVCs expected to come out to vote in the Poll was going to be maximum of 500,000, out of which a winner would emerge. In other words, approximated total voters of 700,000-800,000 voters with PVCs are normally expected to come out and cast their votes in the situation of territorial and psychological security and safety friendliness.

“That is to say that maximum of 500,000 voters with PVCs ought to have come out and voted in the Nov 6 2021 Anambra Governorship Election. Sadly, this was not the case as INEC and its ICT Department deliberately engineered and supervised the massive disenfranchisement of over 250,000 voters with PVCs who came out to vote but were disenfranchised by the Commission. This, the Commission masterminded and perpetrated by way of mass failure of the voters’ capturing machines, perpetrated in collusion with some compromised national network providers. In all, the total number of voters with PVCs in the State technically and physically disenfranchised or chased away by INEC and deployed security forces and agitators is 450,000-500,000 voters who also hold PVCs.”

Intersociety projected that the winner of the Anambra governorship poll will get 110,000-120,000 votes. The group said: “We have looked at and analyzed the dependent and the independent confirmed results from 14 Local Government Areas of the State including Aguata, Onitsha South, Onitsha North, Idemmili North, Idemmili South, Orumba South, Nnewi North, Nnewi South, Anambra East, Njikoka, Dunukofia, Anaocha, Ayamelum and Awka South and arrived at the fact that the total valid and ‘living votes’ cast in the fourteen LGAs is 169,747 or approximately 170,000, out of which the leading candidate in the Poll (Soludo of APGA) has scored 85,593. Having also carefully studied the performances of the voters in the fourteen Local Government Areas including seven out of the State’s ten Local Government Areas with largest number of registered voters, it is most likely safe to conclude that the maximum total votes cast expected from the remaining seven Local Government Areas is approximated at 60,000-70,000 or average of 10,000 votes from each of the seven LGAs. The leading candidate, if he consolidates his lead, may likely garner maximum of additional 35,000 or average of 5,000 votes from each of the seven LGAs.”

“Therefore, the expected total votes cast from the State’s entire 21 LGAs will be in the neighborhood of 230,000-240,000 votes, while the winner’s total votes cast will be 110,000-120,000. Exception to the above is where shocking number of “dead votes” is successfully smuggled into INEC’s strong rooms and authenticated by the Commission. Chances of candidates pulling surprises by winning large number of “living votes” from the outstanding LGAs abound but very tough to be realized going by the present circumstances,” the organization said.