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ELECTION: PDM asks tribunal to annul Gov Umahi’s victory, order rerun

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EBONYI: Sen. Ogbuoji plotting with INEC to allot 200,000 votes to APC during guber poll- PDP alleges

The People’s Democratic Movement (PDM) has prayed Ebony State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal to cancel the March 9 governorship election in the state that returned David Umahi as governor.

The party’s prayer followed its claim that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) omitted its logo and name in the result sheets of Ebonyi State, an action it claimed, robbed the party of its victory during the poll.

This was contained in a statement by PDM’s governorship candidate, Chief Aja Arua, Dr Haron Aja, senatorial candidate for Ebonyi South as well as Messrs Iheanocho Nwugo and Benjamin Ofoke, House of Representatives candidates in Abakaliki.

According to them, INEC erred in declaring Umahi of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) winner of the poll.

“The People’s Democratic Movement was among the leading political parties that participated in the 2019 general elections in Ebonyi. The party fielded candidates in the governorship, three senatorial seats, six federal house of representatives, and for the 24 state house of assembly seats in Ebonyi.

“The party adopted President Muhammadu Buhari, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as its presidential flag-bearer in the Feb. 23 presidential election. We are challenging the outcome of the governorship election which declared PDP’s governorship candidate winner because our great party, PDM was not reflected on the INEC’s final collation sheet.

“The unlawful omission despite our party’s fulfilment of all legal requirements for the election, led to the alleged wrongful inputting of our party’s votes to PDP. The party viewed this development as uncharitable and willfully designed to deny PDM victory in the election, the statement read.

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Further arguing that votes won by both PDP and APC candidates put together in the election could not have matched the estimated 400,000 votes won by PDM which were not credited to it, they asked the tribunal to nullify and order a rerun of Ebonyi governorship election won by Umahi of PDP, who polled a total of 393,343 votes to defeat his closest rival, Sen. Sonni Ogbuoji of APC.

Other parties but PDM have since withdrawn their petitions at the tribunal against PDP and Umahi over the outcome of the poll.

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