Protesters besiege Imo INEC office, call for re-run of Okigwe State Assembly poll

Following the declaration of the candidate of All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), Chidi Ogbunikpa, as winner of Okigwe State Constituency seat in the last election, the Action Alliance (AA) candidate, Adaora Onyechere, has petitioned the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), urging the electoral body to stop the issuance of certificate of return to Ogbunikpa, considering the irregularities that allegedly marred the election in Okigwe Council.

Supporters of the AA candidate, who staged a protest, yesterday, at the INEC office in Owerri, in their petition, said: “The people of Okigwe gave their mandate to Adaora Onyechere of Action Alliance (AA).

“It is, however, shocking to them that what they voted for is not what materialised. To avoid unrest and breakdown of law and order by the aggrieved constituents, we urge INEC to look into our petition and follow the guidelines of the electoral law.”

Meanwhile, over 500 All Progressives Congress (APC) members from Okigwe South Federal Constituency also protested the delay in the announcement of the result of the House of Representatives poll, stressing that it was “strange, suspicious and uncalled for.”

They demanded, among other things, that the party’s candidate, Chike Okafor, be declared the winner, having won the majority votes casted in the area in the said election.

“Ordinary, we don’t have any reason to come here to protest, because we all know that our candidate clearly won the election. But the continued delay by INEC to officially declare the results of the election is what is giving us concern.

“We also want to let INEC know that anything done to compromise the result will be vehemently resisted by us,” one of the protesters said.