The All Progressives Congress (APC), Imo State chapter, has emerged victorious in all 27 local government chairmanship and 305 councillorship seats in the recently concluded local government elections.
The announcement was made by the Chairman of the Imo State Independent Electoral Commission (ISIEC), Charles Ejiogu, during a press briefing held at the Commission’s Secretariat in Owerri, the state capital.
“All the candidates of APC have been officially declared winners as Councillors and Executive Council Chairmen-elect.
The elections were conducted across 305 electoral wards and 27 local government areas (LGAs) in Imo State,” Ejiogu stated.
While the APC celebrated its clean sweep in the elections, the process has not gone without controversy.
A youth group under the aegis of the National Youth Alliance (NYA), Imo State chapter, has condemned the election results, calling the exercise a “charade” and “a slap on democracy.”
In a statement released by the group’s State Coordinator, Chinonso Uba, the NYA accused the ISIEC of colluding with the ruling APC to rig the election, alleging widespread irregularities during the polls.
Uba claimed that many voters were denied the opportunity to cast their ballots due to the selective distribution of electoral materials.
“Electoral materials were either delayed or never arrived in many council areas.
Over 250 wards were starved of materials, and in some areas, ISIEC officials failed to show up, yet results were still declared from those places,” Uba alleged.
He also pointed out that in certain areas, voting materials such as ballot boxes and result sheets only arrived as late as 3 p.m., making it impossible for a fair voting process to take place.
The allegations have raised concerns about the credibility of the electoral process in Imo State, casting a shadow over the APC’s sweeping victory.
Despite the opposition’s outcry, the Imo State Independent Electoral Commission has yet to respond to the accusations, and it remains to be seen if any formal investigations will be launched into the conduct of the elections.
As political tensions rise, various stakeholders in the state continue to express concerns over the fairness of the process and the implications for future elections in the state.
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