Athan Achonu, the Labour Party (LP) governorship candidate for Imo State, along with numerous supporters, converged on the national headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Abuja on Thursday. Their purpose was to demand the genuine certified copy of the recently concluded election in the state.
Accompanied by the National Youth Leader, Kennedy Ahanotu, Achonu accused the electoral umpire of exhibiting double standards during the November 11 off-cycle election. This demonstration occurred two weeks after INEC declared Governor Hope Uzodimma of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner.
Governor Uzodimma secured 540,308 votes, defeating Samuel Anyanwu of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who garnered 71,503 votes and Achonu with 64,081 votes. Both opposition candidates rejected the results, alleging electoral irregularities.
The protest, marked by chants of solidarity and banners with messages like “INEC Give Us Our CTC,” “Respect Our Law,” and “INEC Has Become a Headache to Nigerian People,” caused a mild gridlock. Achonu, addressing the press in front of the INEC building, accused the commission of intentionally withholding the certified copy of the Imo poll results.
Achonu highlighted the disparity with the election process in Bayelsa, where it took three days to conclude, contrasting it with Imo’s two-hour result announcement. He insisted that INEC had something to hide and claimed they had written to INEC requesting a review of the election, but the commission announced the result hurriedly.
“We will not leave here today until we collect the CTC since INEC has refused to come out and address us,” Achonu stated.
During the protest, INEC national commissioners Mohammed Haruna and Prof Abdullahi Abdu Zuru addressed the group. Haruna assured the protesters that their grievance would be promptly addressed, emphasizing their right to petition.
“The CTC you requested is always collected at the state level. So we have a copy of your letter here now, I assure you it will be attended to,” Haruna stated while urging patience from the demonstrators.
