LG Poll: 'There was no election in Imo' - aggrieved Residents - The Round Table Reactions have continued to trail the consequence of September 21, 2024 local government elections in Imo State, with residents in numerous parts of the State strongly condemning the exercise and insisting that elections were never adjudged 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 reveal winners had emerged when we waited throughout the day for materials to get at all the polling units in Ahiazu to no avail? All we heard is that winners have emerged. It’s an enormous 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.” disclosed Jude Elenwoke in Umualumaku in Ehime Mbano LGA.
Another resident in Owerri said: “I am not glad and I am ready to remonstrate 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 adjudge 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 coming there, they stated the ISIEC LGA backtracking officer came without result sheet and other sensitive materials stating that she forgot them. The people there asked her to go arrive 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 denounce the election citing the electoral body’s neglect of the State’s electoral guidelines and laws.
Addressing an advocate 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 observe 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 consequence 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 disclosed the purported election as an organized fraud.
Category: World-News
Tag: LG Poll 039There was no election in Imo039 aggrieved Residents The Round Table
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Published 9/27/2024