The leadership of the Labour Party, LP, has gone to the Supreme Court seeking the nullification of the November 11, 2023, Imo Governorship poll. This is even as the party’s appeal for a fresh election was thrown out by the Appeal Court.
In heading to apex court, LP stated that it perceived bias in the Appeal Court judgments. This, the party said, is despite presenting evidence to back its claim of over-voting in the election.
Recall that the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC and the incumbent governor, Hope Uzodinma was declared winner of the election.
LP’s resolve was contained in a press statement by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh, on Monday in Abuja.
The Independent National Electoral Commission had declared Uzodimma of the APC as the winner of the contentious poll.
in the winner, INEC stated that the APC candidate swept all the 27 Local Government Areas in the State. Having polled a total of 540,308 votes to beat his closest rival, Samuel Anyanwu of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP secured 71, 503 votes. The candidate of the Labour Party, Athan Achonu came distant third with 64,081 votes.
But Achonu and his party, Labour Party, have rejected the result. They alleged that the total number of voters did not tally with the figures reeled out by INEC.
Addressing journalists in Abuja, Ifoh argued that despite making formal requests to review the over 4,000 BVAS, INEC did not oblige them. He pointed that the reviews were essential to prove their case of electoral malpractice in the election.
Ifoh stated that only 30 BVAS units were eventually released for inspection, thereby frustrating their case.
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. Thereby, 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 eerily 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.”
source: PUNCH
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