From Okey Sampson, Umuahia
Labour Party (LP) candidate Chinedu Onyeizu and his All Progressives Congress (APC) counterpart in Abia Central Sam Onuigbo said they have rejected the results of the two senatorial zones as announced by the Returning Officers.
The result announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Hon Darlington Nwokocha of LP as the winner of Abia Central and Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe (APGA), winner of Abia South.
Rejecting the result, Onyeizu described as shocking how Prof Georgina Ugwuanyi, the Returning Officer who earlier declared the election inconclusive because she said that about 108 units had irregularities will go ahead later to announce Abaribe as the winner without telling the world how she sorted out those irregularities.
He equally said that despite the irregularities INEC talked about in those polling units, the figures given to Abaribe were wrong.
Onyeizu said that he was leading Abaribe with 10,000 votes before the election was declared inclusive.
“It is shocking, magical and remains an electoral mystery how INEC reduced my scores to 43,903 votes and magnified Abaribe’s who should be trailing Onyeizu to 49,693 votes”.
He vowed to contest the results to the end, stressing that his opposition has shown that he was afraid of the rerun, knowing he would be defeated.
On his own, the APC senatorial candidate for Abia Central, Hon Onuigbo faulted INEC for excluding the party’s name on the result sheet of last Saturday’s election in the area.
Addressing journalists in Umuahia, Onuigbo who is currently the member representing Ikwuano/Umuahia in the House of Representatives said INEC’s conduct of last Saturday’s elections left much to be desired.
Onuigbo accused the electoral umpire of failing in its statutory responsibility of ensuring a free, fair and credible poll.
“It is disheartening to inform you that INEC failed to include the name of my party on the result sheet for the 2023 Abia Central Senatorial Election, consequently the documentation of my scores in the election was shambolic.
“This made a mess of people’s votes for me and left our votes at the mercy of Presiding Officers who chose to either leave out the result, record it among the invalid votes or in rare cases create a column with their own hands to enter it.
Onuigbo who was cleared by the Supreme Court to contest the election in January said the omission shouldn’t have arisen since INEC uploaded his name on its portal as the senatorial candidate for APC on 22nd December 2022 after his Court of Appeal victory on November 30, 2022.
“The question now remains why was my name missing on the Result Sheet? This puzzle should be resolved by INEC and the leadership of my party, APC which made no effort to correct the anomaly at the appropriate time.
“Let me state in clear terms that I reject in its totality the strange figure of 7,997 votes as manufactured and allocated to me and my party by INEC in an effort to save their face.”
While assuring he was consulting with his lawyers on the appropriate response “to this grave omission,” he urged his supporters to remain calm.