BREAKING: What Happened Minutes Ago To APC’s Uzodimma In Imo

BREAKING: What Happened Minutes Ago To APC’s Uzodimma In Imo

“That you Hope Uzodimma of APC having satisfied the law is hereby returned elected,” Fashina declared.

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Uzodimma initially assumed the role of Imo State governor in January 2020, following the Supreme Court’s decision to annul the election of Emeka Ihedioha of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). This development increased political opposition against him in a state grappling with security challenges such as “unknown gunmen,” abductions, and regular Monday sit-at-home protests by pro-secessionist groups.

In the recent Saturday poll, the 64-year-old Uzodimma sought re-election and secured victories in all 27 local government areas of the state. He defeated opponents including PDP’s Samuel Anyanwu, Labour Party (LP)’s Nneji Achonu, and Jack Ogunewe of the Action Alliance (AA), along with 14 others. Uzodimma garnered 540,308 votes, surpassing PDP’s Anyanwu with 71,503 votes and LP’s Achonu with 64,081 votes.

The collation process, lasting eight hours from 2:30 am to 8:30 am on Sunday, was marked by drama and protests from opposition party agents. They argued that the results presented at the state collation center differed from those uploaded on the Result Viewing Portal of the commission. Despite opposition complaints, the returning officer insisted on concluding the collation.

INEC reported a total of 2,419,922 registered voters in the state, with 2,318,919 Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) collected. However, only 701,338 votes were validly recorded at the end of the poll.

Observers noted that the governorship poll in the South-East state was marred by issues such as vote buying, voter intimidation, violence, and other electoral malpractices. Antigraft agencies apprehended party agents with concealed cash. Similarly, governorship elections took place in Kogi and Bayelsa on November 11, 2023, with the collation of results in those states adjourned to Sunday morning.

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