Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma has won the governorship election conducted in the state on Saturday.
Declaring the result, the state returning officer of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Prof. Abayomi Fasina said on Sunday that Uzodimma polled 540,308 votes to defeat 17 other candidates.
Fasina, who is the vice-chancellor, Federal University Oye-Ekiti, Ekiti State, said that the PDP governorship candidate, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, polled 71,503 votes.
He also said that Senator Athan Achonu of the Labour Party, came third with 64,081 votes, while Anthony Ejiogu of APGA scored 6,392 votes to occupy the fourth position.
In reaction, the APC state collation officer and attorney-general of the state, Cyprian Akaolisa, commended INEC and security agencies for the peaceful conduct of the poll.
“It is clear that INEC did their best to ensure a free and fair election, from the distribution of election materials to the conduct of the election, it was peaceful.
“Security agencies did their utmost best to ensure that the process was smooth and we had a credible, free and fair election. This victory is victory for Imo people.
“It is a victory for the continuation of the development the governor is providing for the people,” Akaolisa told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
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Also, the state collation officer for the Young Progressives Party, Kingsley Nwahiri, expressed dissatisfaction with the outcome of the poll.
“The result of the governorship election that was declared today (Sunday) is a result of the vote buying,” he said.
Nwahiri said that the decision on the next line of action would be taken by the national leadership of the party.
Earlier, Anyanwu called for the cancellation of the election over alleged ballot box-snatching and violence.
He further claimed that security agencies assisted officials of INEC to ensure victory for the APC governor.
