The Independent National Electoral Commission has fixed a Supplementary Election in Ihiala Local Government Area of Anambra State on Tuesday this week.
As a result, the Commission declared the election inconclusive, until the supplementary election is conducted.
Ihiala was the only Local Government Area, where Saturday’s gubernatorial polls in the State did not take place.
The Returning Officer for the election and Vice Chancellor of University of Calabar, Professor Florence Obi, announced the decision after the collation of results of the 20 Local Government Areas, where the election took place.
Professor Obi said this was in compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act before any declaration could be made.
She observed that the election in Ihiala could not hold last Saturday due to security threats.
“I Prof. Florence Banku Obi, in my capacity as the Returning Officer of this election hereby announce the suspension of collation of results and declaration of the winner until the supplementary election is held in the 326 polling units in Ihiala Local Government Area of the state. The Commission has decided that the supplementary election will take place on Tuesday, 9th November, 2021. Then, the collation of results shall resume”.
The result of Orumba North Local Government Area was collated after it was subjected to scrutiny by a conference of Collation Officers.
The Collation Officer for the Local Government, Doctor Michael Otu, had while collating the results, alleged that he signed the document under duress and that the election did not take place in polling units.
This was however, debunked by the Electoral Officer for Orumba North, Mrs Comfort Omoruyi, who claimed that the election was transparent.
Reacting to the Supplementary Election, the APGA Agent, Senator Victor Umeh described it as a welcome development to conclude the process.
“The collation has been a painstaking exercise and there is nothing to worry about. Now that the law requires that Ihiala Local Government Area must be part of this election, we totally agree so that when they go on Tuesday, the election will be decided in Ihiala and we then have 21 local government areas covered”.
The APC Agent, Mr Chibuzor Obiakor said the decision to suspend the exercise until the election is conducted in Ihiala, was in the right direction.
“The declaration that the state collation officer made was the right one because we have one whole local government with over 300 polling units that are still outstanding. There was no single election held in that local government. There were some activities in the other twenty local governments. So, you have to bring that local government at par with other local government areas”.
Mr Obiakor, however, rejected the results announced for Orumba North, saying the BVAS machine should have been checked before accepting the alleged outcome.
The APC and PDP Agents refused to sign the results of the 20 Local Government Areas already collated.
RADIO NIGERIA