The Labour Party’s candidate in the recently concluded Imo State governorship election, Athan Achonu, is urging the annulment of the poll results. Achonu contends that security forces collaborated with the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to manipulate the election’s outcome. Expressing his determination to seek legal recourse, he alleges that his party’s supporters and voters faced intimidation and harassment, asserting that the declared results by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) do not accurately represent the events at the polling stations.
Athan Achonu made these statements during a press conference on Sunday at his residence. He claims that, contrary to INEC’s assurances before the election, voting occurred in several locations without proper BVAS accreditation. The LP governorship candidate is steadfast in his commitment to pursuing justice through the judicial system, underscoring his belief that the electoral process was marred by irregularities that warrant a thorough review.
In addition to questioning the credibility of the results, Achonu accuses security operatives of bias and collusion with the APC, amplifying concerns about the fairness of the electoral process in Imo State. As he calls for the cancellation of the election results, the LP candidate seeks to draw attention to what he perceives as significant flaws that compromise the integrity of the democratic process.
According to him, “recorded evidences abound, such as that of a police officer who was beaten by voters for attempting to snatch a ballot box”.
He declared, “Today is a very sad day for democracy, for good governance, for equal opportunity, and freedom of choice.
“This nation’s security agencies violated our democracy yesterday. I’m still recovering this morning from the huge shock.
“Our democracy was raped by the DSS, Police, and Military; it was not INEC; it was more like a security agency coup.
“Let’s save the drift into anarchy, let’s save our country and her democracy, there was no election yesterday and we call on the INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu to cancel the purported results.”