By John Ikani
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared the Anambra State Governorship election inconclusive.
The electoral commission had failed to deploy staff and materials to Ihiala Local Government Area which has 148,407 registered voters on INEC’s list.
While Professor Chukwuma Soludo is in the lead, the winner of the Anambra State 2021 Governorship election may be decided by the outcome of the poll in Ihiala LGA, which INEC has rescheduled for Tuesday November 13.
Due to non-arrival of election materials and irregularities, the poll could not be conducted in Ihiala on Saturday. It was later extended to Sunday but again was, yesterday, postponed to Tuesday.
According to the Returning Officer in the election, Prof. Florence Obi: “we have collated results for 20 local government areas, and Ihiala is still outstanding as the commission was unable to deploy to the area.
“Based on constitutional provision, supplementary election will be held in Ihiala. So, we have to conclude the election in Ihiala to be able to conclude the process.
“I plead with you to support INEC, so we can bring this election to a conclusion, to the glory of God. The election for Ihiala will hold on November 9.”
What you should know
Currently, Soludo has 98,178 votes; Mr. Val Ozigbo of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP is on the second spot with 49,401 votes while Andy Uba of the All Progressives Congress, APC is coming third with 40,770 votes.
Depending on the outcome of the Ihiala election, either Ozigbo or Uba can overtake Soludo because 148,407 potential votes are available. There was no election in Oba Ward 1, Oba Ward II and Akukwu Ward, all in Idemili South LGA, which have no fewer than 40,000 registered voters.
Also, INEC was meeting to decide whether or not to accept Orumba North LGA result, which the collation officer claimed he signed under duress. the council has 93,620 registered voters.
However, in the event of any of them overtaking Soludo, there may be a run-off between the candidate and Soludo because neither APC nor PDP has met the spread of at least 25 per cent of votes in 14 local councils, which constitute two-thirds of the 21 local councils.
