Electoral commission declares anambra state governorship election inconclusive

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared the Anambra State Governorship election inconclusive, explaining that this was because there was no election in Ihiala local government area of the state.

Penpushing reports that, Prof Florence Obi who is the returning officer, made this declaration on Monday, adding that, the local government has over 148,000 registered voters, but the commission could not deploy voting materials to the area because of the security threat .

“Based on constitutional consideration and provisions of the Electoral Act as well as the Revised Regulations and Guidelines for the Conduct of Elections issued by the commission, supplementary election is indicated for Ihiala Local Government Area,’, she said

Penpushing further reports that, Obi who is the  Vice-Chancellor of University of Calabar, said the constitution provides for a candidate to secure both the highest number of votes cast and 25 percent of votes cast in at least two-third of the local government areas of the state before he is declared winner.

“Therefore, it is important to complete the election in Ihiala to make this determination. Section 179 (3) of the Constitution provides that a rerun election shall take place if no candidate meets the requirement of sub-section 2’,Obi stated.

‘Such a run-off shall be between the candidate with the highest number of votes and one among the remaining candidates who secured a majority of votes in the highest number of local government areas in the state,” she added.

Penpushing also reports that Obi said she has discussed with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and that the commission has decided to conduct a supplementary election in Ihiala on Tuesday, November 9.

The candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Prof Charles Soludo  scored a total of 103,946 votes and won the election in 18 out of the 21 local government areas of the state.

Penpushing reports that, his closest rival, Valentine Ozigbo of the Peoples Democratic Party scored 51,322 and won in only one local government area, while candidate of Young Progressive Party(YPP), Ifeanyi Ubah, won in one local government area

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