by Chukwu Obi
The senatorial candidate of All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, for Anambra South in Saturday’s election, Dr. Ernest Ndukwe, insisted yesterday that he won the election for the zone convincingly, urging the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, not to issue certificate of return to the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
Addressing reporters at Oraifite in Ekwusigo local government area, the former vice chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, said from the results recorded on Form EC8A1in all the polling units, it was clear that he won overwhelmingly.
He said: “The people of Anambra South senatorial zone voted massively for me in all the seven local government areas, but it is so disheartening that some people decided that the wish of the people should be thwarted.
“Everybody knows that the result of every election comes from the polling unit. Unfortunately, because the card readers did not work, voting started late end stretched into the night. And because there was no light, there was no collation at the ward level and everything had to be taken to the local government collation center.
“That was where the security agents joined members of the PDP in rigging the election by intimidating the INEC ad hoc staff.
“Form EC8A is there to prove it because you cannot get a different thing in the field and then announce a different thing as the result. It is not done. I think in the course of time, my people will have the leader they voted for.
“No proper collation was done anywhere in Anambra South Senatorial zone. There was wide spread of falsification of results and inducement. Corpers were influenced and even when the Retraining Officer refused to announce the doctored results, the PDP stalwarts had to force another INEC officer to announce the falsified results,” Dr Ndukwe alleged.
He said his mandate must be given back to him.
“I, therefore, call on INEC not to allow this charade to stand by not issuing certificate of return to PDP because there were irregularities of the highest order,” he added.
According to him, it is even surprising that Andy Uba was announced as winner in Nnewi when the collation of four local government areas, out of the seven in the constituency, had not taken place and wondered the basis on which he was declared the winner.
He said further that Uba himself knew that he did not win the election adding, advising him to surrender his mandate to him.
He boasted that if the election was conducted 20 times, he was sure to win because the people of the zone yearned for change.
Ndukwe commended voters in the zone for the support given to him.
