Andy Uba, the governorship candidate for the All Progressives Congress in the recently concluded Anambra State election, has expressed his displeasure with the results given by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Uba claimed that the election outcome was a sham and that it did not reflect the preferences of the majority of the population.
Ambassador Jerry Ugokwe, a spokesperson for the Senator Andy Uba Campaign Organization, made the candidate's views on the issue known to the public.
"It is remarkable that the APGA, which had lost approximately 80 percent of its stalwarts to defection to the APC before the election, emerged 'victorious,'" Ugwoke added. In Anambra State, the outcome of the election was a farce, and it did not reflect the preferences of the people of the state."
The development comes as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced its preparedness to present the Certificate of Return to the state's Governor-elect, Charles Chukwuma Soludo of the All Progressives Grand Alliance.
The campaign organization claimed that its candidate was a victim of extensive electoral fraud and manipulation by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
APGA, which lost its serving deputy governor in the state, as well as about 17 state and federal parliamentarians, could not be claimed to have been in a position to win the election, according to the report.
Part of the statement states that Senator Andy Uba, "our popular candidate, has been the victim of widespread electoral fraud and manipulation by the Independent National Electoral Commission in collaboration with the Willie Obiano Regime and the security forces deployed to supervise the Anambra State Governorship Election."
In order to pave the way for APGA's ignominious 'win' in the polls, massive irregularities, intimidation, and voter suppression were perpetrated during the election process."
"For example, in polling areas where the Biometric Voters' Accreditation System failed, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) went ahead and conducted the elections manually."
There were multiple instances in which the number of votes published by the INEC exceeded the number of accredited voters present in polling stations, according to the commission.
According to the report, "another evident demonstration of cooperation between the Obiano Administration and INEC was the publication of results on the APGA's social media accounts before the results were officially announced by INEC."
Yet, for some reason, the votes indicated in advance by the APGA always matched up with the official figures given by INEC in a consistent manner.
The fact that our candidate, who received over 200,000 votes in the APC primary election, was only given slightly more than 43,000 votes by INEC is absurd.
"It is surprising that the APGA, which had lost about 80 percent of its stalwarts to defection to the APC before the election, emerged 'victorious.'
Despite the fact that a sitting APGA Deputy Governor, seven members of the House of Representatives, ten members of the Anambra State House of Assembly, a member of the APGA party's Board of Trustees, many serving SAs and SSAs, as well as a serving PDP Senator, all defected to the APC very shortly before the election, the APGA emerged 'victorious.'
According to all appearances, the only persons left in the APGA at the time of the election were Governor Obiano and his family, as well as a few members of the Government House staff and Prof. Attahiru Jega.
Soludo and his family remain loyal to the PDP, but the APC has gained control of the majority of Anambra State's electorates. With or without the intentional participation and manipulation of INEC and the Obiano Administration, there was absolutely no way the corpse of the APGA could have defeated the APC in Nigeria.
"What transpired on November 6, 2021, fell far below the accepted level of a free and fair election and can only be classified as an electoral fraud perpetrated by the INEC, the Willie Obiano administration, and the security forces," the statement reads in part.
It was crystal clear from the appointment of INEC Adhoc staff, the majority of whom were from Calabar, to the distribution of electoral materials and the retention of the Resident Electoral Commissioner, who oversaw the second term election of Governor Obiano, that the strategy was to overturn popular will in Anambra State, in the largest electoral heist in Nigeria's political history."
"While we appeal to our supporters to maintain peace and calm, we will not back down from pursuing our stolen electoral mandate to the full extent of the law through all constitutional means available, as the facts on the ground did not in any way reflect the outcome of the elections as announced by the obviously compromised INEC," the statement reads.
Meanwhile, Festus Okoye, National Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, has stated that the commission will issue Certificates of Return to Soludo and the deputy governor-elect on Friday.
According to him, "after the conclusion of the election and in accordance with Section 75 of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended), certificates of return will be delivered to the Governor-elect and the Deputy Govenor-elect tomorrow, Friday 12th November 2021, at our State headquarters in Awka."