Victor Ezeja
AdminWatching the Votes (WTV) crew of Yiaga Africa has taken the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to task on how it managed to upload results (form EC8A) for some of the sampled polling units in Imo State where elections were not conducted.
The election monitoring group identified six Local Government Areas (LGAs) as where INEC uploaded results without conducting elections, and they include: Orsu, Oru East, Oru West, Ideato North, Ikeduru and Okigwe LGAs.
The Chairman of Yiaga Africa WTV Working Group, Dr. Hussaini Abdu, who made this observation in a statement on Sunday in Abuja, called on INEC to clarify the status of voting across polling units in Orsu, Okigwe, Oru East and Orlu LGAs in Imo State.
READ ALSO: Amid Controversy, Uzodinma Re-elected As Imo Governor
Abdu spoke same day that INEC declared Governor Hope Uzodinma of the All Progressives Congress (APC) winner of Saturday’s governorship election in Imo State. INEC’s Returning Officer for the state, Prof Abayomi Sunday, vice chancellor of the Federal University, Oye Ekiti, Ekiti State, declared the winner at about 10 am on Sunday after over eight hours of collation of local government results.
Sunday announced at the state collation centre in Owerri that Uzodimma scored 540,308 votes to defeat his closest challenger of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Samuel Anyanwu, who scored 71,503 votes while the Labour Party candidate, Athan Achonu, came third with 64,081 votes. None of the other 15 candidates had up to 10,000 votes.
Meanwhile, Yiaga Africa is now calling on INEC to clarify the status of locations where elections did not hold, including the upload of results from polling units where elections did not hold.
Its statement reads, “According to reports from Yiaga Africa observers in polling units where elections were conducted, the voting process is concluded and the collation of results is underway in Bayelsa, Imo, and Kogi States.
“However, reports from some Yiaga Africa’s Watching The Vote (WTV) observers in Imo State indicate elections did not take place in 12 percent of Yiaga Africa sampled polling units.
“These cases were prevalent in Orsu, Okigwe, Oru East, and Orlu LGAs. Yiaga Africa also monitored the upload of results on the IReV, especially those from polling units where elections did not hold.
“For Orsu LGA in Imo State, Yiaga Africa’s WTV observers reported that the election did not take place in nine (9) sampled polling units in the LGA.
“There were speculations that INEC may have relocated all polling units to the LGA headquarters on election day. Yiaga Africa notes that voters in Orsu LGA were not informed of the change in polling unit location and INEC failed to issue an official statement on the supposed temporary re-location of polling units.
“In Okigwe LGA in Imo State, Yiaga Africa observers also reported that elections did not occur in eight (8) sampled polling units. In Oru East LGA, the election was not held in eight (8) of Yiaga Africa’s sampled polling units.
“In addition, elections were not held in seven (7) of our sampled polling units in Orlu LGA and in one (1) of our sampled polling units each in Ideato North, Ikeduru, Oru West and Owerri West LGAs.
“Yiaga Africa is deeply concerned with the upload of results form EC8A for some of the sampled polling units where elections were not conducted in Orsu, Oru East, Oru West, Ideato North, Ikeduru and Okigwe LGAs on the IReV.
“To ensure transparency and to protect the integrity of the process, Yiaga Africa calls on the INEC to clarify the status of voting across polling units in Orsu, Okigwe, Oru East and Orlu LGAs in Imo state.
“Additionally, INEC should investigate the report of likely election malpractices in these polling units, especially for locations where results have been uploaded on the IReV without the conduct of accreditation and voting.
“Yiaga Africa, through its Watching The Vote initiative, is committed to promoting more credible elections by providing independent information on the conduct of elections and independently determining if the results announced reflect the votes cast.”
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