Labour Party Rejects Imo Election Outcome, Alleges Irregularities

The Labour Party in Imo has distanced itself from the result of the November 11 Governorship Election in the state, as declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The Party’s Chairman, Mr Callistus Ihejiagwa, said this while reacting to the outcome of the election in a conversation with newsmen in Owerri, on Sunday.

Ihejiagwa criticized the election for its “attacks, intimidation, and resistance against the voters’ will,” denouncing the announced result as unacceptable.

He pointed out his petition to INEC, citing electoral guideline paragraphs 48, sub-paragraphs A and B, regarding voter accreditation before the final collation, which was ignored as the commission proceeded to collate.

He alleged that when he pushed for the collation to pause for his party’s petition to be addressed, he was accused of disrupting the process and physically attacked by All Progressives Congress thugs in the presence of security agents.

“Paragraph 48, sub-paragraphs A and B of the electoral guideline say that collation shall not be done until the Returning Officer confirms that accreditation has been done in line with the provisions of the law.

“This section of the law was contravened and we were denied the inalienable right to a fair hearing despite several calls for our petition to be heard almost two hours before the start of collation.

But the Returning Officer, Prof. Abayomi Fasina insisted that he could not entertain the petition.

“With the RO’s insistence, thugs of the APC beat me up, threw me out of the hall, and robbed me of 1,000 dollars and another N50,000 which I had on me.

“Police officers, one of whom I identified as SP Amaechi Kennedy, rather than arrest those who assaulted me, took me to the police station where I was eventually detained in a cell and only released by 11.00 am on Sunday after the announcement of the result, for a crime I was never told,” he said.

Ihejiagwa stated that the LP had substantial evidence of the assault that unfolded on live TV during the collation process and vowed to take appropriate action to address all the issues raised.

He expressed disappointment over the security personnel’s failure to protect him at the collation center and criticized INEC for not addressing his petition. He stood firm on the LP’s candidate, Sen. Athan Achonu, as the rightful winner of the election and pledged to prove it in court.

“We took our time to document the anomalies and prepare a strongly worded petition that was never heard and for this reason, we will be seeking judicial redress.

“LP completely dissociated itself from the purported result and will challenge it in court, with all our evidence.

“Our candidate, Sen. Athan Achonu won this election and we’ll retrieve the mandate in court,” he said. (NAN).

Kanyi Daily recalls that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)and the Labour Party have called for the cancellation of the 2023 governorship election held in Imo State on Saturday, November 11th.