By Peter Okolie/Victor Nwachukwu
Owerri, Feb. 27, 2022
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared Mr. Blyden Okanni of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the winner of the Ngor Okpala State Constituency by-election in Imo.
Prof. Dennis Akoh, the INEC Returning Officer for the election, announced this in Owerri on Sunday.
Akoh said that Okanni polled 9,248 votes to defeat his closest rival, Mr. Emeka Nwachukwu of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who scored 7,161 votes.
Akoh, a professor at the Federal University, Ndufu-Alike Ikwor (FUNAI) in Ebonyi, said the candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Mr. Christopher Nwaiwu placed third with 501 votes.
He said out of the 11 candidates that contested the by-election, the only female and candidate of the National Rescue Movement (NRM), Mrs. Joy Nze, got 15 votes.
The returning officer said a total of 18,083 voters were accredited for the poll, out of a total of the 94,118 registered voters in the area.
He said the total valid votes cast were 17,280, while 582 votes were rejected.
Meanwhile, the Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) on Sunday called for a total cancellation of the bye-election over alleged intimidation and harassment of the people.
The call is contained in a statement issued in Owerri by CUPP’s National Spokesperson, Ikenga Imo-Ugochinyere.
He condemned what he described as “rape of the people’s will’’ and called for a fresh election.
Responding to the charge, Publicity Secretary of the APC in Imo, Mr. Cajetan Duke, said the allegations were false and unfounded.
“The opposition is just raising false alarms from the comfort of their zone.
“The election went on smoothly. Allegations made exist in the imagination of the opposition. The electioneering process was smooth,’’ he said.
Eleven candidates contested in the bye-election for the House of Assembly seat declared vacant following the long absence of the former occupant.
INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner in Imo, Prof. Francis Ezeonu, told journalists on Saturday that abductors took some INEC ad-hoc staff away during the election.
