Abia North rerun: PPA rejects result, says INEC should insist on inconclusive election
Taiwo Owoeye
The Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA) on Tuesday added a new dimension to election re-run held in Abia North Senatorial distrust in Abia state, describing it as “robbery”.
In the re-run election conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) which was ordered by the court, the PPA candidate and former governor of Abia State, Orji Uzor Kalu lost to the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Mr. Mao Ohuabunwa.
According to the result declared by INEC, Ohuabunwa polled 29,009 votes as against 25,814 votes scored by Kalu.
The candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Mr. David Ogba Onuoha, came a distant third position with 13,633 votes.
Speaking with journalists, the national chairman of PPA, Chief Peter Ameh, faulted the decision of INEC Returning Officer, Dr. Ojike Nwankwo, who made a u-turn after declaring the poll inconclusive and then announce the PDP candidate as the winner.
Although INEC said the poll official acted in error by first declaring the senatorial election inconclusive, PPA said the move rather amounted to compromise.
Ameh demanded that INEC should do the needful and affirm that the earlier declaration of the election as inconclusive still stands.
He said, “The National Working Committee (NWC) of PPA strongly disagrees with and reject the the result of the Abia North senatorial re-run election announced by 1:45 on March 6. We state that it is indecorous to announce one result in the morning and another in the afternoon.
“We believe that the decision of the Returning Officer for the Ohafia collation centre, Dr. Ojike Nwankwo to cancel results of some polling units in Ohafia and Arochukwu local government for irregularities and declaring the election inconclusive is correct, fair and even handed.
“We state that what happened later the same day is a product of compromise and arm-twisting. INEC having done its fairly and correctly in the morning should never have allowed itself to be prevailed upon to shift ground.”
