Election observers indict INEC, call for cancellation of Imo results

A cross section of observers led by the She for She Initiative for Women and Girl Child, on Wednesday, called for the cancellation of the recently concluded elections in Imo State.

The Director of Operations, She for She Initiative for Women and Girl Child, Kenneth Umez, made this demand while speaking to newsmen in Owerri, on the controversies surrounding the Imo governorship election while also indicating the Independent National Electoral Commission.

Other observer groups are the New Dawn for Development Initiatives, International Women and Youth Revival Initiative, Global Hope and Justice for the Less Privileged, Citizens Right for Peace and Good Leadership Initiative, Centre for Child Care and Youth Development, Women with Disabilities of Nigeria Support Foundation, Women and Youth Empowerment for Global Change Initiative.

The Okigwe, Orsu, Orlu, Ehime Mbano, Ikeduru, Oru East, Oru West, Owerri West, Ideato North, Ideato South, and other council areas are among those where they claimed to have witnessed widespread irregularities.

Umez also noted that the election not only took place but also that voting materials were pilfered, issues of overvoting, vote buying, and physical assault.

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He said, “That the election was marred by irregularities characterized by vote buying and physical attacks on persons who were out to exercise their franchise.

“That the Independent National Electoral Commission need to address the people of Imo and generality of Nigerians as to why voting was carried out in many polling units without the use of the BVAS meant for accreditation of voters.

“In several instances, security agencies were complicit as observed and shown in several viral videos where they compromised their duties of ensuring credible Election. By that they aided and abbeted the massive rigging as witnessed in the Imo State election. In one instance, a voter was attacked in an attempt to expose open day vote buying with cash. That INEC is hereby urged to provide answers as to why Elections did not hold in many PU’s in this instance, we observed that in 9 of the polling units there were no Election in ORSU LGA.”

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