Reactions have continued to trail the outcome of September 21, 2024 local government elections in Imo State, with residents in various parts of the State strongly condemning the exercise and insisting that elections were never held and could not have produced any winners.
Following the declaration of results by the Imo State Independent Electoral Commission (ISIEC), some residents expressed shock over the development, describing it as “criminal” and threatening to take to the streets in protest.
“I cannot imagine it. What we saw on Saturday was shocking. How can they say winners had emerged when we waited throughout the day for materials to arrive at all the polling units in Ahiazu to no avail? All we heard is that winners have emerged. It’s a big joke.” Mr. Emeka Sorochi, a trader, lamented in Ahiazu Mbaise.
“The whole thing is fraud. In my polling unit, there was nothing like an election. We didn’t see any ISIEC staff, not to talk of materials. I thought it was peculiar to my area, but I went around my entire ward to find out that the story was the same. It was too bad. For me, Imo people should not take this. It’s an insult to all of us and we should not allow it to stand.” said Jude Elenwoke in Umualumaku in Ehime Mbano LGA.
Another resident in Owerri said: “I am not happy and I am ready to protest to any length. They have robbed us again. How can ISIEC and the State government take us for fools? Have you ever seen an election where voters didn’t see electoral officers and materials from morning till night anywhere across the State and they went ahead to announce winners? They are killing democracy.”
In Ikeduru LGA, Mrs. Nkechi Nwoke narrated her ordeal: “My polling unit is a bit close to the LGA headquarters. So after we waited for so long without seeing any ISIEC staff or material, some of us went to the LGA headquarters at about 4 pm. On getting there, they said the ISIEC LGA returning officer arrived without result sheet and other sensitive materials saying that she forgot them. The people there asked her to go get them and we were there until 6:20 pm. She never returned. There was no election in the entire LGA because materials were never dispatched to polling units. I saw it myself.”
Ahead of the polls, the Inter-party Advisory Council (IPAC) had threatened to boycott the election citing the electoral body’s neglect of the State’s electoral guidelines and laws.
Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, September 17, 2024, the IPAC Chairman Mr Ekeh, also the state chairman of Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), alleged that ISIEC failed to comply with some of the State’s 2024 local government electoral guidelines.
Several political parties, including PDP, ADC, SDP, and APGA in the State have rejected the outcome of the election, corroborating that the election did not hold.
The PDP in a statement by its State Publicity Secretary, Lancelot Obiaku, the PDP described said the purported election as an organized fraud.
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