Nnewi, Anambra State (Nigeria): The Labour Party (LP) has condemned the conduct of the November 8 Anambra governorship election, alleging widespread vote-buying and underage voting that compromised the integrity of the poll.
The party insists the irregularities cast doubt on the credibility of the outcome and demand urgent electoral reforms.
Addressing reporters in Nnewi on Sunday, the party’s Governorship Candidate, Mr George Muoghalu, alleged that the election lacked transparency.
He said: “The November 8 election has come and gone, but the truth is that it was a sham.
“There were issues of vote buying, intimidation of party agents, and underage voting, among others.”
The LP candidate said that reports were still being compiled from the field.
“We will do a comprehensive review of the party after studying all the reports from across the state.
“We are still expecting a comprehensive report, but for now, we can boldly say that the election was not credible, free and fair.
“INEC had its own failure. In some instances, result sheets were not visible, and voting was ongoing.
“If you look at social media, there was buying and selling of votes at an alarming level, probably the reason for poverty, so that people can be bought with money,” Muoghalu said.
He said that one of his major supporters in Obosi, Idemili North Local Government Area, was picked up and beaten to a pulp, despite the heavy presence of security personnel.
“The security agencies promised us total security, which was why I understand that over 45,000 personnel were deployed with over 20 CPs, AIGs, and DIGs in the state.
“However, at the end of the day, they could not stop the visible vote-buying everywhere.
“The entire process was faulty. We reject the outcome of the election,” he said.
Muoghalu further stated that the party’s name was not on the ballot papers, which only displayed the logo.
He asked, “How do you explain that to somebody who doesn’t know the logo but knows the name?”
In an interview, the state Publicity Secretary of the party, Mr Theo Egbe, who commended INEC’s effort, said the poll was largely peaceful.
Egbe, however, decried the high level of vote-buying at the election, describing it as “disheartening”.
“Every vote cast yesterday was paid for, and the average pay for each vote was N10,000.
“The most worrisome and painful thing is that the voters themselves came out prepared to bargain and sell their votes to the highest bidder,” he said.
He also said that the development portended great danger for future elections.
Egbe urged INEC and security agencies to nip the menace in the bud.
Meanwhile, the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) for Anambra, Mrs Queen Agwu, had dismissed the allegations as “unsubstantiated,” urging anyone with proof to come forward.
Agwu told reporters in an interview that no credible evidence had been presented to support the claims.
She contended that “no verified case of vote-buying was reported to the commission’s situation room throughout the exercise”.
Agwu commended the overall conduct of the election, describing INEC’s logistics and security deployment as “effective”.
The Returning Officer, Prof. Edoba Omoregie, declared Prof. Charles Soludo of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) winner of the Saturday poll.