2023 Nigeria Decides
How Uzodimma Buried Toga Of ‘Supreme Court Governor’ With New Election Wonder
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC has announced the Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma, as the winner of the state governorship election held on Saturday, banishing the toga of Supreme Court governor that tagged his political profile in the last four years.
In a new wonder that is bound to daze his opponents and critics, the governor swept all 27 LGAs accorin to the INEC officials who declared the results on Sunday morning.
GWG.ng reports that the move validates Uzodimma’s democratic credentials, at least, in the electoral space following his first emergence as governor courtesy of the Supreme Court.
He had been pronounced governor by the Supreme Court in January 2020 despite coming fourth in the 2019 governorship election, in one of the most controversial judgements in the annals of the Nigerian judiciary which made Uzodimma to be mocked among his political opponents as ‘Supreme Court Governor.’
However, after a fiercely contested governorship election on Saturday that was seriously marred by violence, intimidation and allegations of rigging, the state Returning Officer for the election, Prof. Abayomi Fasina, who is also the Vice-Chancellor, Federal University, Oye-Ekiti, Ekiti State, announced the results on Sunday morning at INEC’s state collation centre in Owerri, the state capital.
READ ALSO: Imo 2023: Tight Security As Uzodinma Casts Vote
He declared Uzodimma of the All Progressives Congress as the winner of the election with 540,308, votes while Samuel Anyanwu of the Peoples Democratic Party came a distant second with a total of 71,503 votes.
Athan Achonu of the Labour Party polled 64,081 votes to come third in the election.
Anthony Ejiogu of the All Progressives Grand Alliance garnered 6,392 votes to come fourth and Jack Ogunewe of the Action Alliance came fifth with 5,756 votes.
The state’s Returning Officer said, “I, Prof. Abayomi Fasina, I was the Returning officer for the Imo state governorship election held on November 11, 2023. That the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Good Hope Uzodimma, having scored the highest number of votes and satisfied the requirements of the law, is hereby declared the winner of the election and returned elected.”
The results announced by INEC showed that Uzodimma swept all the 27 Local Government Areas of Imo.
With this result, Uzodimma will be sworn – in for a second term in office on January 14, 2024.
Earlier, the State Agent of the LP, Callistus Ihejiagwa, was beaten and bundled out of the state Collation centre after he protested the results announced by the Local Government Areas Retuning officers.
He said that the results were manipulated in the favour of the APC candidate.
The state Agent of the PDP, Kissinger Ikeokwu, immediately left the collation centre.
However, PDP and LP had on Saturday night called for an outright cancelation of the poll.
The PDP candidate, Samuel Anyanwu, in a press conference, said that the election was rigged in the favour of Uzodimma.
Also, the deputy governorship candidate of the LP, Tony Nwulu, said that the security agents provided security for INEC staff and APC members to rig the poll.
He said that the position of his party was for INEC to cancel the election.
GWG.ng reports that the declaration by INEC of Uzodimma as the winner will now put the ghost of Supreme Court governor to another chapter in history.
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