In a declaration that stirred controversy, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced Governor Hope Uzodimma of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the Imo State governorship election held on November 11, 2023.
The state Returning Officer, Prof Abayomi Fashina, who also serves as the Vice Chancellor of the Federal University, Oye Ekiti, declared Uzodimma re-elected on Sunday morning at around 10 am after an exhaustive eight-hour collation of local government results.
“That you Hope Uzodimma of APC, having satisfied the law, is hereby returned elected,” Fashina declared.
Uzodimma, previously declared Imo State governor by the Supreme Court in January 2020, sought re-election in Saturday’s poll and secured victory across all 27 local government areas in the state. He faced competition from Samuel Anyanwu of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Nneji Achonu of the Labour Party (LP), Jack Ogunewe of the Action Alliance (AA), and 14 other opponents.
The APC candidate garnered 540,308 votes, defeating his closest rivals; PDP’s Anyanwu, who scored 71,503 votes, and LP’s Achonu, who received 64,081.
The collation process, lasting from 2:30 am to 8:30 am on Sunday, was marked by drama and protests from opposition party agents. They complained that the results presented at the state collation center differed from those uploaded on the Result Viewing Portal of the commission. Despite vehement protests, the returning officer insisted on concluding the collation.
Observers noted that the governorship poll in Imo State was marred by vote buying, voter intimidation, violence, and other electoral malpractices. Antigraft agencies reportedly arrested party agents found with concealed cash.
Similar governorship elections were conducted in Kogi and Bayelsa on November 11, 2023, with the collation of results adjourned to Sunday morning in these two states.
