APC candidate accepts defeat in Abia by-election, forecloses litigation

• Anambra chieftains regret loss

All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate in last Saturday’s House of Representatives by-election for Aba North/South Constituency, Mascot Uzor Kalu, has conceded defeat to his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) counterpart, Chimaobi Ebisike, who emerged winner in the poll.

Ebisike had polled 10,322 votes, while Kalu polled 3, 674.

Kalu, who appealed to APC members to also accept the results in good faith, however, commended them for making the party stronger in the state.

In a statement yesterday, Kalu who came second in the poll in which six political parties contested said: “While the opposition wanted the election at all cost, we chose life over bloodshed, and therefore, we won lives and lost the polls. To us, that was a greater victory.”

The younger brother of Senate Chief Whip, Orji Uzor Kalu, claimed that the level of thuggery, violence, and rigging in the election necessitated a deeper review of the country’s electoral laws and processes.

“Every country is peculiar to its people, all Nigerians should support the electoral law being amended as it would assist us in strengthening our democracy.

“The current electoral law renders the security agencies with arms weak in the face of violence during polls and therefore needs to be reviewed. Granted that armless police should be in polling units, armed officers should be within 50 meters away from the units,” he said.

Also yesterday, some chieftains under the auspices of APC Patriots, Anambra chapter regretted the loss, advising the party’s hierarchy against presenting an unpopular flagbearer for this year’s Anambra governorship poll to avoid a repeat of the Abia incident.

They alleged that the rancour generated by the reported imposition of the standard-bearer was responsible for APC’s trouncing in the election.

The group’s reservations were contained in a statement signed by its coordinator and spokesman, Dozie Ikedife and Victor Afam Ogene.